W H Y �W I - F I ? An Educational Forum on Wireless in Philadelphia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wednesday Nov. 17 at 7 pm Free Library of Philadelphia Montgomery Auditorium 1901 Vine Street Free and open to the public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Philadelphia made headlines around the world a few months ago when Mayor
Street announced his plan to make the city the country's first major
city-wide internet "hotspot." �This plan would potentially provide free
internet access to city residents, and help attract new business and
tourism to the city. �With an estimated cost of $10 million and build-out
to begin as early as summer 2005, now's the time to ask:
* �What is Wi-Fi and what's all the buzz about it?
* �What are the possibilities and benefits?
* �Is Wi-Fi a reasonable priority given the City's tight finances?
* �Can Wi-Fi help close the "Digital Divide" (or does it just expand access
for those who already have it)?
* �What is the best management model (municipal, non-profit, corporate, or
some combination)?
* �How can we ensure this plan meets its highest civic purpose?
Come learn more about Wi-Fi technology, how it's used, and its potential to
transform our city. �Local and national tech and policy experts explore the
goals and challenges of the proposed plan, present case studies and models,
and discuss how it fits within a growing national trend of wireless
spectrum use. �Followed by audience Q&A.
Speakers Include: �- Dianah Neff, Chief Information Officer, City of Philadelphia �- Mark Cooper, Consumer Federation of America �- Harold Feld, Media Access Project �- Lorelie Narvaja, United Way of SE PA �- Antwuan Wallace, BCT Partners (New York) �- Anthony Townsend, NYC Wireless �- Tan Vu, People's Emergency Center
The Mayor and private sector representatives (Verizon, T-Mobile and Comcast) have been invited.
Presented by Media Tank. Co-sponsored by CTCNet Delaware Valley, Free Press, Institute for the Study of Civic Values, Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group, Philadelphia Community Access Coalition, Philadelphia Independent Film & Video Association, Prometheus Radio Project, and Scribe Video Center.
For more info: http://www.mediatank.org or 215.563.1100
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Media Tank is a Philadelphia-based non-profit media education organization
working to expand civic participation and debate on decisions affecting our
nation's media system and culture.
Note that this event is NOT being run by the City Committee involved with the WiFi project.
It is "an Educational Forum," not a "Town Meeting.
The Town Meeting was held by the Committee two weeks ago in City Council's chambers, and only about 25 people showed up.
I know Inja and the "Media tank," and expect them to do an excellent job tomorrow. However, there can be no useful technical or specific answers provided to questions asked, because none of the technical details about the system have yet to be defined. All answers will be quite general and not at all specific to the Philadelphia project; whereas all of the questions will be very specific ... sigh ... the classic conflict of expectations.
The Committee is due to present a proposal (business plan) to Mayor Street in the next two weeks. After (assuming) that proposal is accepted, an RFP (Request for Proposal) will be drafted - theoretically by January, which will most likely be a non-technical document as most RFPs are. (It may be detailed in legalese, but those details are not likely to include anything vaguely reminiscent of "technical." As a simple for-instance, there will be no requirement that any kind of minimum "speed" be provided ... just as no Cable modem or DSL provider "guarantees" the service they will provide.)
At this time, nothing has been stated about when or if the public will be allowed to comment on the RFPs received before a contract is let ... construction is supposed to begin in June 2005.
All in all, it will probably be a "good" meeting for anybody who knows nothing about WiFi or anyone who is looking to angle their way into getting something for nothing for their Non-Profit. This session will be very "policy" oriented, as all of the previous Committee meetings have been, and Committee members are. Not necessarily good or bad, but most definitely the way it is. [All of the Committee's "technical expertise" is coming from
an outside firm "Civitum" http://www.civitium.com/ , in addition to using resources from the City's IT department.]
But if you are looking for details about what the City is actually planning to do, they won't be presented -- because they simply do not exist.
One last comment(s) -- for any of those of you who might know what I'm talking about -- geek-speak follows -- everything I have seen and heard so far implies that this will be STRICTLY an 802.11b system. So far, I have neither seen nor heard any kind of desire for a requirement that it be upgradeable to 802.11g or "WiMax" at a later date ... as I said - no technical details exist. All the talk so far is touchie-feelie "who gets to use it" and "who pays for what. "
http://www.phila.gov/wireless/index.html
http://www.wirelessphiladelphia.net/
From what I can tell, the Love park operation uses "Syndeo" as their ISP. "Syndeo" is apparently "Syndeo Communications Group" not to be confused with Syndeo Corporation.
http://www.syndeogroup.com/
http://www.wirelessfidelitymag.com/hotnews/42h25103018.html
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/04/19/ BUGH865P5M1.DTL&type=printable
It appears that they (Syndeo and the City) are using Tropos hardware, at least in Love Park
http://www.tropos.com/products/index.shtml http://www.tropos.com/company/releases/2004_02_19.shtml
www.tropos.com/company/releases/phila_free_internet.pdf
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