Open Park Project Launches Free Wi-Fi Service On Capitol Hill: Coverage
of National Mall Planned
Washington D.C. The Open Park Project, a Washington D.C. non-profit,
launched the first public outdoor wireless Internet hotspot in the
nation’s capital today. The free service provides coverage in front of
the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress and the Capitol Visitors'
Center site. The Capitol Hill hotspot is the initial step in Open
Park’s plan to provide free public wireless Internet service across
the National Mall. Open Park is using the popular Wi-Fi technology
employed in home networks and coffee shops. The group’s free hotspot
“will give the public outside the Capitol the same quick Internet
access for research, email and news that their representatives enjoy
inside their offices,” said Open Park's co-founder, Greg Staple, a
Washington communications lawyer. “It’s a hotspot for democracy,” said
Staple. The group also announced today that it had received a
significant donation of WiFi equipment and services from Tropos
Networks, Inc. of San Mateo, California, a leading supplier of systems
used to build metro-scale Wi-Fi networks. The donation will enable
Open Park to establish a mesh of free hotspots on the Mall, beginning
this Summer. By 2005, the group’s goal is to create a public Wi-Fi
zone from the Washington Monument to Capitol Hill that will also serve
as a national test bed for new wireless applications. “Washington
policymakers deserve a first hand look at how quickly innovation can
develop in unlicensed spectrum bands such as those used by Wi-Fi,” said
Kevin Werbach, a technology analyst and co-founder. “From Wi-Fi phones
to radio location tags to portable guides for park rangers, the
possibilities are extraordinary,” he added. "We welcome the support
of other high tech companies and individuals in implementing this
vision," said Leo Cloutier, a telecommunications consultant who serves
as the project's chief technical adviser and network architect. "We
believe that Washington deserves a state-of-the-art Wi-Fi net on the
Mall. Open Park is focused on marshaling the resources necessary to
provide this 21 st Century community service.” To learn more about
Open Park’s activities, visit www.openpark.net.
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