Edward Cherlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> asks, > Don't you think we could do it cheaper?
Could they not build and install quality access points for about $500/each? If you had 10APs/sq mile that would be 1350x$500=$675,00. Don't how to calculate the wiring costs. My guess is they'd wire the APs to a few central places and then buy some fat pipes to the Internet. But still $10M seems a bit high. > ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- > > Subject: [BDPA-DigitalDivide] Philly Considers Wireless Internet > for All > Date: Wednesday 01 September 2004 06:49 am > From: "J. Edwin Sapp" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Philly Considers Wireless Internet for All > > By David B. Caruso > The Associated Press > Wednesday, September 1, 2004; 6:53 AM > > > PHILADELPHIA -- For about $10 million, city officials believe > they can turn all 135 square miles of Philadelphia into the > world's largest wireless Internet hot spot. > > The ambitious plan, now in the works, would involve placing > hundreds, or maybe thousands of small transmitters around the > city - probably atop lampposts. Each would be capable of > communicating with the wireless networking cards that now come > standard with many computers. > > Once complete, the network would deliver broadband Internet > almost anywhere radio waves can travel - including poor > neighborhoods where high-speed Internet access is now rare. > > And the city would likely offer the service either for free, or > at costs far lower than the $35 to $60 a month charged by > commercial providers, said the city's chief information > officer, Dianah Neff. > > "If you're out on your front porch with a laptop, you could dial > in, register at no charge, and be able to access a high speed > connection," Neff said. "It's a technology whose time is here." > > If the plan becomes a reality, Philadelphia could leap to the > forefront of a growing number of cities that have contemplated > offering wireless Internet service to residents, workers and > guests. > > Chaska, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis, began offering citywide > wireless Internet access this year for $16 a month. The signal > covers about 13 square miles. > > Corpus Christi, Texas, has been experimenting with a system > covering 20 square miles that would be used (for now) only by > government employees. > > Over the past year, Cleveland has added some 4,000 wireless > transmitters in its University Circle, Midtown and lakefront > districts. The service is free, and available to anyone who > passes through the areas. > > Some 1,016 people were logged in to the system at 2:20 Tuesday > afternoon, said Lev Gonick, chief information officer at Case > Western Reserve University, which is spearheading the project > and paying for a chunk of it. > > "We like to say it should be like the air you breathe - free and > available everywhere," Gonick said. "We look at this like PBS or > NPR. It should be a public resource." > > In New York, city officials are negotiating to sell wireless > carriers space on 18,000 lampposts for as much as $21.6 million > annually. T- Mobile USA Inc., Nextel Partners Inc., IDT Corp. > and three other wireless carriers want the equipment to > increase their networks' capacity. > > One part of the 15-year deal is cheap Wi-Fi phones for > neighborhoods where less than 95 percent of residents have home > phones. IDT, which has agreed to market the cheaper phone > service in those neighborhoods, would pay lower rates for poles > there than other companies would in wealthier areas. > > Wireless technology has improved by leaps and bounds in recent > years and become drastically less expensive. > > The new "wireless mesh" technology under consideration in > Philadelphia has made it possible to expand those similar > networks over entire neighborhoods, with the help of relatively > cheap antennas. > > Neff estimated it would cost about $10 million to pay for the > initial infrastructure for the system, plus $1.5 million a year > to maintain. > > Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street, a technology buff who carries > a wireless handheld computer everywhere he goes, appointed a > 14-member committee last week to work out the specifics of his > city's plan, including any fees, or restrictions on its use. > > > ? 2004 The Associated Press > > -- > Edward Cherlin, Simputer Evangelist > Encore Technologies (S) Pte. Ltd. > The Village Information Society > http://www.ryze.com/go/Cherlin > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > BAWUG's general wireless chat mailing list > [unsubscribe] http://lists.bawug.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > End of wireless Digest, Vol 7, Issue 12 > *************************************** _______________________________________________ BAWUG's general wireless chat mailing list [unsubscribe] http://lists.bawug.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
