Portland to get free Wi-Fi
p2p news / p2pnet: Another city has announced it’ll provide Wi-Fi for its citizens.
San Francisco recently let Google in, disaster-struck New Orleans has been providing free Wi-Fi since Katrina, to BellSouth’s disgust, and now Portland, Oregon’s, 134 square miles will be covered an ad-backed MetroFi Wi-Fi service at 1 Mbps for downloads and 256 Kbps for uploads, says the San Francisco Chronicle.
But. “Users will have to endure an advertising banner along their screen if they want the free service. For $20 a month, they can get the same download speed but with customer support and no ads.”
MetroFi would put 2,000 wireless antennas around Portland to enable access in the city’s hilly forested areas, says the Associated Press.
Portland already has free Wi-Fi at a number of sites because of the Personal TelCo Project, a volunteer group in Portland, but this would be the first city-wide project, the story adds.
Also See:
let Google in – San Francisco’s Google Wi-Fi, April 7, 2006
BellSouth’s disgust – New Orleans Wi-Fi angers BellSouth, December 5, 2005
San Francisco Chronicle – MetroFi to provide Wi-Fi in Oregon city, April 14, 2006
Associated Press – Portland on road to free Wi-Fi for all, April 14, 2006
