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story category Houston Citywide Wi-Fi Details
Earthlink aims at yet another muni-market
(old news - 10:06AM Thursday May 18 2006)
tags: wireless
Not surprisingly, Earthlink is in the mix of a bidding process to create a citywide Houston wireless network, notes the Houston Chronicle. Mayor Bill White sat in front of a laptop computer outside city hall last night answering questions about the citywide project. The 600 square mile network will cost some $30 to $50 million to build, and should be completed by 2007 or 2008. The other bidders are Redmoon Broadband Inc., Convergent Broadband, nextWLAN Corporation and Houston Wi Fi Ltd. Mayor White stated the costs to build the network would be covered by the builder, not taxpayers.

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Forums » Houston Citywide Wi-Fi Details
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wifi4milez
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Just another statistic....

We hear about cities "un-wiring" themselves almost everyday on this website, yet as far as I know none have done it yet. By none, I dont mean the "5 city block single access point" mumbo jumbo that anytown USA has set up in the tourist area. I am talking about true CITYWIDE wifi in a real big city. I was under the impression that the Philly network was supposed to be up last summer, yet it appears to be bogged down in red tape more than ever before. As of now I dont see it EVER happening there. I think the idea of citywide wifi sounds great, but so far it really only seems to be a pipe dream. Just to clarify (since I know SOMEONE will point it out), I am NOT referring to the small towns in Michigan(?) that have access for their residents, I am talking about large scale URBAN rollouts.
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Karl Bode
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1 edit

Re: Just another statistic....

quote:
the Philly network was supposed to be up last summer, yet it appears to be bogged down in red tape more than ever before. As of now I dont see it EVER happening there.
Not true. The city council only just unanimously supported the city's Earthlink Wi-Fi plan last week. A few signatures and a few permits and building will begin. A lot of the delay, if you recall, was dealing with Verizon and getting around the state-law they passed prohibiting such ventures.

Not sure where the doom and gloom is coming from, most cities have only just announced plans over the last year.

wifi4milez
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Re: Just another statistic....

said by Karl Bode See Profile :

quote:
the Philly network was supposed to be up last summer, yet it appears to be bogged down in red tape more than ever before. As of now I dont see it EVER happening there.
Not true. The city council only just unanimously supported the city's Earthlink Wi-Fi plan last week. A few signatures and a few permits and building will begin. A lot of the delay, if you recall, was dealing with Verizon and getting around the state-law they passed prohibiting such ventures.

Not sure where the doom and gloom is coming from, most cities have only just announced plans over the last year.
I never specified what the red tape was, all I said was that it was bogged down. My other point is that if you carefully read some of the press releases you will see that EL is only building a "test" network first
quote:
EarthLink will start building the network in June over a 15-square-mile test area that would cover parts of North and South Philadelphia. The test should take three to four months, said Clifton Roscoe, director of major projects for EarthLink.
I am not saying that they will not then go on to build out the rest of the city (which I truly hope they do!), I just have a feeling that it will be severely delayed by a number of things. I hear the major down there is a complete moron as well, for what its worth.
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tapeloop
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Re: Just another statistic....

Who ever said that Philly wi-fi was supposed to be out last summer as you stated in your original post?

wifi4milez
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Re: Just another statistic....

said by tapeloop See Profile :

Who ever said that Philly wi-fi was supposed to be out last summer as you stated in your original post?
They did!

quote:
Philadelphia's city government is studying plans to deploy Wi-Fi wireless LAN access points throughout the city, each offering IEEE 802.11b access and linked to others via a wireless mesh network, said Dinanah Neff, the city's chief information officer. Deployment is set to begin in June 2005
»www.infoworld.com/article/04/11/···i_1.html
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devil24
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Re: Just another statistic....

I didn't know that DEPLOYMENT = FINISHED, DONE, READY FOR PRIMETIME.

wifi4milez
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Re: Just another statistic....

said by devil24 See Profile :

I didn't know that DEPLOYMENT = FINISHED, DONE, READY FOR PRIMETIME.
And who exactly said that it did? The current "deployment" is exactly zero right now so either way your rude comment is off base. I am just pointing out how much trouble these large deployments have been having. No need to get testy about it.
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Won't 802.11n cut the cost, radios, & improve the quality

It would seem that we're close enough now to 802.11n that a city the size of Houston ought to lay the plan out...do the basic infrastructure work for placing the Access Points...and THEN place the radios/ACs.

By the time they get all this worked out they ought to be able to get an 802.11n solution from Cisco that would save them a lot of money on Access Points and really make the WiFi network something to be proud of!

MysticGogeta
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Sounds intresting but they got hacked

I was reading in the houston chronicle that someone hacked it and it was running slow as hell It looks intresting I cant wait till its build but eventually I can see them useing our tax dollars to run the network eventually.
Odie97

join:2006-04-19
Oak Creek, WI

Re: Sounds intresting but they got hacked

Yep, when Earthlink goes bust chasing their muni-WiFi fantasy the remaining network built and carnage left will need to be taken over by someone ... and the city will probably need to be first in line (to save political face) or it will just become another heap of "stranded or adandoned" network infrastructure for someone else in another time frame to pick-up cheap.

Not that this is bad ... someone has to blaze the trail and take all the first bullets ... Earthlink has set themselves up for being this entity, thanks Earthlink ... each mis-step, mistake, delay and ultimately "expectations not being met or acheived" will take them down in my opinion. Just a prediction though, after watching them doing the things they have over the past six months.
Forums » Houston Citywide Wi-Fi Details


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