Wired’s Epicenter blog thinks that the concept of free WiFi for the masses has taken a step back after postponement of the San Francisco WiFi project. Looks like we’re going to have to continue paying through the nose at airports or squished into cafes where the owners don’t want us. Wired says:
Earthlink’s restructuring announcement, along with the company’s planned elimination of 900 jobs, seems to confirm its attempts at becoming an integrated service provider have failed. Yesterday’s news also calls into question the ultimate fate of already struggling municipal Wi-Fi projects in San Francisco and other cities.
While there was no specific mention of such projects in Tuesday’s announcement, according to a filing registered at the SEC on Aug. 28, Earthlink will in fact be letting go of Don Berryman.
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The city-wide wifi in Philadelphia is also provided Earthlink. I speak from experience when I say that the quality of their service and support so far has been a major disappointment, bad enough to make going back to Comcast or Verizon look like a welcome relief.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Coming to you direct from San Francisco, I can say the very wired citizens of the bay area are anxiously awaiting any public wifi deal. We are constantly taunted with the gleaming promise just over the horizon at the en of the rainbow.
We even have an emergent unwritten code of ethical use of free wifi hotspots. It of course involves purchases of coffee and pastries from thosse that provide it.
The single factor holding back free wifi is legal/political efforts by paid service providers and people, quite understandably, afraid of losing jobs at those same providers.
September 1st, 2007 at 12:52 pm