“Municipal Wireless Success Demands Public Involvement..”, Gee Ya Think?

Community WiFi is a unique animal and not because of technology. But the politics of it require some adroit community buy-in. Lacking that any project is headed for failure –

Most media have it wrong. Municipal wireless networks across the United States didn’t stumble in 2007 - high-profile cities where deals fell apart, such as Chicago, San Francisco and Houston, were not going to finance, own or operate their respective networks. These weren’t municipal networks at all. The business model that faltered in 2007 was the “private corporate franchise” model based on the deal that Philadelphia and EarthLink agreed to in 2006. It was, in fact, the free market that failed last year - not governments in their traditional role as the builders and maintainers of critical infrastructure.

Regardless of the author’s assessment it was labeled ‘Muni Wifi’. I’ll leave it at that. Now lets repeat what IS important to a Muni Rollout –

• Get the City Planning Commission front and center on the effort. Forget the mayor or city council. The planning commission if they aren’t behind it can kill an effort faster than cheetah taking down a gazelle.
• Get the buy-in from the major corporate entities — top employer(s), Chamber of Commerce, business civic groups.
• Have the various tech head groups in the area volunteer to help with design and implementation.
• Identify a small group of normal citizens so that there is grass roots buy in.

Notice I have not included any of the carriers or folks like Earthlink. At this juncture WiFi technology is very mature. 13yo’s can have a node installed faster than it takes them to create a Facebook page. Folks like FON will gladly consult in the initial planning. But you need that Planning Director to clear the red tape for the necessary permits.

Link to full article.

PS: Think that WiFi is not mature? Consider this WiFi hotspot HOW-TO. Its a cooked technology, serve it hot and let the people get it done.