Not Going Without Wireless at SST

The SST 2009 conference has a commitment from the University of Washington Tacoma to provide 50 free guest wireless access during the conference. Probably will be a first come..., so get your registration at the front of the line ASAP.

Mandate or a Market

The CQ Today Midday Update reports that the Senate has joined the House in action to bolster Net Neutrality.

Net Neutrality is a policy of preventing broadband service providers from blocking certain traffic or establishing a tiered pathway for Internet content. The FCC's proposed mandates prohibit selectively blocking or slowing content and applications. For the first time, these provisions would also apply to wireless providers.

Supporters contend it would level the playing field for content providers. Opponents say it would hamper online innovation. Wireless providers are concerned they could not block voice calling services.

The Senate proposal is from Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-So. Dakota) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) is expected to cosponsor. The House effort is lead by Cong. Edward Markey (D-Mass.).

Forbes: America's Most Wired Cities

Earlier this year, Forbes.com published one of its rankings again, repeated since 2007. This one: The Top 30 Most-Wired Cities.

In this one, Seattle vaulted to the top spot, helped out by a new criterion: wi-fi spots. While it is never certain what geographical area "Seattle" represents, this is good news, but with some challenging aspects. For instance, the most recent comment to the article scolds the writer for lacking in her research and citing Tacoma as "America's Most Wired City," a long-standing claim.

From a research perspective, we need to examine what these rankings are about. Forbes.com cites as its criteria:

• % of Internet users with high-speed connections
• number of companies providing high-speed Internet
• number of public wireless Internet hot spots

The last criterion is a new wrinkle in the Forbes.com rating mix. And, Forbes.com does give us their resources, even if they aren't publicly available, being proprietary.

Of note is the acknowledgement that Portland and Baltimore may deserve higher rankings due to Clearwire's super-fast wireless Broadband; but data lags (always). That's promising for Tacoma's ranking as Clearwire is busy here too. So we'll see what next year brings, especially with the FCC promise of "considerably more detailed" information on broadband access in coming months.

The comparison must be made with Tacoma's long-standing claim as "America's No. 1 Wired City." That claim is based on number of miles of broadband, stemming from the Click!Network municipal broadband development. That claim was bolstered by the competitive responses of Comcast and Qwest.

So, is Tacoma "America's Most Wired City"? Or do we need to heed the changing metrics of an evolving tech world?

Wi-Fi Laid to Rest

The announcement of the Washington State Department of Transportation that the wi-fi service at rest stops will be stopped marks the end of a two-year experiment.

More than that it marks either the end of a failed experiment or the recognition of a more outstanding killer app than the experimenters' business model. Depends on your perspective.

The tendency is to lament the end of another hi-tech service. But I look at the "glass-half-full" perspective and see a greater adoption of technology and an increased capability of technology offering the user a better option. This is not to blame any of the wi-fi partners: WSDOT, Parsons Transportation or Road Connection, Inc. In the technology field, just as in other industries if not so prevalently, failure often leads to the greater success.

Economic developers celebrate the region's status as a place of many business starts. And, they lament the region's status as a place of higher business failures. But the two are linked. The marketplace will decide the winner if we let it. This is not to excuse the market manipulation that seeks to maintain all businesses regardless of their economic worth. And, it is not an excuse for the market interference from either monopolistic practices or regulatory constraints that stifle economic progress.

The Challenge for a marketplace is that those able to influence it keep it open, with an ease of entry that enables serial entrepreneurs.

What About Municipal Wi-Fi?

Following several years of failed promises for municipal Wi-Fi projects--and growing consumer demand--a recent review in the San Francisco Chronicle reports that "the reality is somewhere in between hype and hopelessness."

Municipal (for most of those interested, read free) Wi-Fi in Tacoma has never got off the ground, largely for lack of any clear business model and in observance of services already ambient by companies like Clearwire. Efforts by the Rainier Communications Commission to create a county-wide system also failed to gain traction--for the same reasons.

The Chronicle article by staff writer Ryan Kim provides a bird’s-eye view of municipal Wi-Fi adoption, and it contends that the movement is slowing down, but progressing with clearer goals and a more logical approach that includes acknowledging that:

• There's a learning process that big cities and counties in particular have been absorbing the hard way;
• Municipal leaders are learning that they need to ensure that projects are profitable for their vendors;
• The ad-supported free model, which Google had proposed for San Francisco, seems to be taking a backseat to more realistic approaches that rely on governments as anchor tenants;
• Cities are backing off some of their talk of broad public access and bridging the digital divide in favor of more immediate goals, concrete applications and services;
• The most popular uses among municipalities are public safety, remote worker access, meter reading and surveillance cameras.

CenturyTel Pulling the Plug on Countywide Wireless Internet

CenturyTel's test of wireless Internet in Steilacoom has determined that the technology works, but the limited profit forecast has pretty much killed the effort, The News Tribune has reported. Columnist Dan Voelpel--long a proponent for free, ubiquitous wireless surfing--inked the program's epitaph for this Sunday's edition.

CenturyTel was the winning bidder to a Request for Proposals last year from the Rainier Cable Commission, responding that it could install a countywide system with limited free access, sell long-term access to residents and businesses, provide free services to government and make money. During its presentation to the Tacoma Technology Consortium, however, the telco's business plan seemed sketchy, at best.

Across the U.S., many cities are finding their Wi-Fi projects costing more and drawing less interest than expected, leading to worries that a number will fail, resulting in millions of dollars in tax dollars or grants being wasted.

Will Ubiquitous Wireless Eliminate the Gas Tax?

While we typically think of the ways that ubiquitous wireless technology can liberate our lives, there are other options. Recently, cash-strapped governments have been researching ways to eliminate the gas tax, funding transportation improvements and maintenance projects via a "pay per mile" system based upon wireless technology.

The link above jumps to On RAMP, the sister blog for Tacoma Tech Connect that highlights transportation issues for the Regional Access Mobility Partnership (RAMP).