Portland’s ‘free’ Wi-Fi
p2pnet.net News:- Microsoft wants to turn Portland, Oregon, into a advertising hub.
The city already has Wi-Fi by way of one advertising backed service, and now Microsoft is planning to move in with another.
Microsoft’s is boosting a municipal Wi-Fi pilot program which aims to cover 95% of Portland by mid-2008, says TechNewsWorld.
"The software giant inked a deal with MetroFi, which will deploy the advertiser-supported service," says the service. "When users log onto the free service, they will encounter MSN-generated content and local news, weather and entertainment information."
Portland Wi-Fi will transmit data via access points mounted on streetlight poles throughout the city.
"WiFi-enabled users will access the network at broadband-like speeds – up to 1 Mbps downstream bandwidth and as much as 256 Kbps upstream," says the story.
MetroFi’s existing service offers at Mbps / 256 Kbps.
But, ad-supported models may not be a winning approach in the long term, the story has Wi-Fi analyst Craig Settles saying.
Corporate sponsorships are a more probable funding scenario, he believes, tellling TechNewsWorld:
"Everyone wants to get something for free, but there’s a lot of downside with the whole free concept. Cities should be aware of the complexities of building out a WiFi network. Cities may need to turn over ownership to a private company rather than trying to find ways to fund these networks."
Also See:
advertising backed service – Portland to get free Wi-Fi, April 14, 2006
TechNewsWorld – Microsoft Jumps on Municipal WiFi Bandwagon, November 15, 2006
November 18th, 2006 at 12:06 am
This article has things all confused and ass-backwards. Microsoft isn’t moving-in with another Wi-Fi system. They’re merely becoming a major advertiser on that advertiser-supported system.
Secondly the last paragraph also misses the point. The city of Portland is NOT building a Wifi network itself although it’s the ’sponsor’ of it being built. It’s MetroFi’s network that is being backed by the city to the extent of allowing access and promising to be a major user of the system in return for MetroFi building (and designing, etc) the network.
Mike
P.S. – I live in metro Portland.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:08 am
This article has things all confused and ass-backwards. Microsoft isn’t moving-in with another Wi-Fi system. They’re merely becoming a major advertiser on that advertiser-supported system.
Secondly the last paragraph also misses the point. The city of Portland is NOT building a Wifi network itself although it’s the ’sponsor’ of it being built. It’s MetroFi’s network that is being backed by the city to the extent of allowing access and promising to be a major user of the system in return for MetroFi building (and designing, etc) the network.
Mike
P.S. – I live in metro Portland.