Originally published June 13 2005
Philadelphia plans to install citywide wireless network
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Philadelphia plans to cover 135 square miles with wireless high speed internet, commenting that it will save millions of dollars in operational costs by providing broadband to the city government. They also expect to attract more people to the city. Smaller cities, like Chaska, Minnesota, have already installed similar networks, but this is the first attempt for a major city. Analysts project that it will cost approximately $10 to $15 million dollars to reach every household and business. There are two major problems in the project: Cell phones, microwaves, and other appliances could cause interference to the networks and extraordinary infrastructure upkeep costs. The city plans to sell service to local providers who will divvy up access, but most providers want assurance of the city's upkeep of the network. San Francisco is heading down a similar path, but San Francisco is trying to find a way to offer wireless for free.
- The city's experiment to blanket its 135 square miles with wireless high-speed Internet access has been hailed by supporters as one of the most innovative projects in the country.
- But some experts caution that significant technical and business issues must be hammered out before citywide wireless networks can become a reality.
- Large cities such as Philadelphia and San Francisco see wireless broadband technology as a low-cost solution to providing broadband access to low-income residents.
- They also believe that these Wi-Fi networks can help them save millions of dollars in operational costs by providing broadband connectivity for public-safety and other agencies within city government.
- Building a do-it-yourself network The idea of municipalities providing broadband service has been catching on nationwide for the last couple of years, despite pushback from local telephone and cable providers who view city-owned broadband networks as a threat to their businesses.
- While it would cost about $2,000 to $3,000 per household to run fiber, wireless can be deployed for about $20 to $25 per household.
- Wi-Fi uses unlicensed broadcast spectrum, or airwaves, to deliver high-speed Internet access through a series of antennas positioned on telephone poles and other locations.
- One of the biggest technical issues that cities face in deploying municipal Wi-Fi is that it can suffer interference from other wireless devices trying to transmit signals in the same channel.
- Because wireless networks run on unregulated spectrum, many devices can interfere with transmission.
- For example, microwave ovens, hand-held phones, garage door openers and devices using Bluetooth applications all use the same 2.4MHz frequency used by Wi-Fi networks.
- Interference is a problem because it can greatly impact performance on the network by causing packets of transmission data to be dropped.
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