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I was sitting at a local coffee spot the other day and noticed that laptops out-numbered the muffins on the tables around me. This particular spot does a roaring trade with professionals taking in their two vital requirements - coffee and the internet. Hell, I was there to call my contacts in Europe over the free WiFi. Now I know WiFi hotspots have been around in coffee places for years, but what if the area in which I lived, worked, shopped and socialized was one big WiFi hotspot?
With the increasing number of free large-scale public WiFi (PAW) spots in development around the World - we can look forward to a future of free communication and information exchange. More importantly, this future is becoming a reality, day-by-day.
I’ll walk you through some of the projects and areas of exploration in this field as we track the alluring and illusive beast - free communication.
What’s happening down in Singapore?
One of the most notable projects I came across was the Wireless@SG program! With little information available directly, I trawled the News and Blogsphere for more information.
As part of its Intelligent Nation 2015 program, the island nation will be able to boast of countrywide WiFi coverage in a few months. This will, effectively, turn Singapore into one massive WiFi zone (with around 5000 hotspots) called Wireless@SG - partly funded by government, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) will infuse $30 million of the expected $100 million price tag of the project.
The free service will provide access at speeds of up to 512K in all public areas around the island! Browsing, sharing, email and, most notably, mVoIP calling and messaging will become freely available to all, no strings (or wires attached). Users who want faster speeds can upgrade to the Wireless@SG premium package for around $10 a month.
With over a 900 of the 5000 hotspots (to be completed by September, 2007) already active just months after the project was announced - it goes to show how quickly large-scale public WiFi network can be put in place. Furthermore, a $100 million price tag is not ridiculous, considering the benefits provided to an entire urban population free of charge.
London and Paris getting in on the act too!
Europe has always been on the knife edge of mobile living and their not about to fall on the blunt slide. London and Paris have plans for their own public-access free WiFi zones. Again, to the Interweb I go…
It seems the group behind Free-hotspot.com, a resource for those looking for WiFi hot spots, and the WiFi network infrastructure firm MeshHopper have banded together to offer free WiFi access to businesses and the public along a 13.6-mile (extended to 22.3 miles by August) stretch of the River Thames. Marketed as online-for-free.com, The two companies will offer ‘free’ WiFi access to the public on the condition that you sit through a 15 second add every fifteen minutes unless you purchase one of their premium packages.
The free service only offers speeds of up to 256K which is not fast, by any means but it still allows for good quality VoIP calls. The premium packages offer you 512K speeds with the most expensive package costing just under £10/month.
There are estimated to be 250,000 residents and 21 million visitors to the MeshHoppper network area every year. In addition, approximately five million people travel on the Thames annually, and there are approximately two million workers along the river. That’s a lot of people who will benefit from the free access.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the channel, the Parisian Mayor - Bertrand Delanoe - wants the free WiFi service up by the end of 2007 in-line with his révolution numérique vision meant to position Paris as one the World’s most connected cities. This will form part of a larger initiative to make French internet access and telephony more cost-effective for both citizens and visitors to the nation.
This means, mVoIP calls will not only be allowed, but encouraged as a means of cutting the costs of communication in France
In touch in the air?
Now WiFi has been available on certain air carriers for a while but at costs, that people just aren’t willing to pay. Row44 will be launching it’s satellite-based service (in conjunction with Hughes) early next year. Their model currently works on a POS system with $10 buying you about 2hrs of net time. However, they are pushing for alternate arrangements with individual airlines whereby Row44 take a few cents of the ticket price in return for totally free WiFi aboard the flight. I personally wouldn’t mind a few cents added onto my ticket for the benefit!
Row44, unlike its competition Panasonic and AirCell, is pushing third-party VoIP as the proffered method of telephony on their service whereas the others are pushing their own systems - even so far as to block third-party services. What this means, should it take hold, is that the millions of air travellers will now be able to make free (or massively discounted) calls from their mobile phones in flight using VoIP instead of networks that charge service fees. I think we should show our informed support for initiatives such as Row44 and push to see more ventures like it emerge on free models.
WiFi and Mobile VoIP.
Free PAW means that if your handset has a WiFi connection, you can use that connection to route your call over mobile VoIP (mVoIP). Applications, such as Yeigo, do just that. The technology is new, but it’s available now, today. There is a lot talk about cellular operators claiming and planning to be able to charge a premium for mVoIP calls. Free PAW networks mean that you could avoid yet another attempt to charge for something you can have for free - open, free communication to the World. With the amount of mobile phone owners (globally) far exceeding the amount of PC owners, a mVoIP solution makes the most sense.
What’s in it for me?
Well large-scale free public access WiFi (safe to call them PAW’s from now on) mean internet access and the benefits to communication, information and knowledge it brings, will be freely available to all under its blanket.
That means - ultimately - you!
It means your communication options need have no boundaries. Yes there’s email and instant messaging and even talking from your computer. But now there’s a true mobile communication solution in mVoIP, bypassing all the service charges applied by traditional fixed-line and cellular operators. It is, truly, like having the World and all the people you know in it, right in the palm of your hand.
PAW’s also mean that schools and libraries - places of learning and knowledge will have access to, quite literally, the World of knowledge. It levels the playing fields of access to information and opportunity by offering all the most relevant and up-to-date materials, delivered, instantly for next to nothing!
The combination of communication, information and knowledge is what, ultimately, leads to wisdom. I’m sure we could all do with a little of that.
So what?
The three projects highlighted earlier show us that large-scale free PAW networks can be set up fairly easily, in a short space of time. I personally think that the cost/benefit is extremely fair considering the benefits to society and each individual that lives in it. The befits to the developing World are endless. Access to information and markets through the internet and the ability to communicate with out borders would grow the countries intellectual and commercial wealth.
The reason I find it so exciting, is because the examples above us show that it makes business sense as well. If I have enough money to be sitting at in park having coffee while running my online company or blog from my laptop before catching a flight to London, I’m not going to squeel about paying $10 a month for faster (AdFree) service. But at the very least, every single person can have access to the same internet - the same communication, information and knowledge - as the mochacino-sipping entrepreneur in the park. The operators can make their money - we can all have free access.
I say, we should start looking into what can and is being done in done in our area’s. With WiMax 3 years away from standardization, WiFi is the most simple & cost-effective to implement today. Ask your community, ask your government, ask your airline - what they are doing about PAW.
I continue tracking the PAW prints of the World.
Justin R. Melville
In case you want to explore the story further, I’ve put together some links for you to check out:
Singapore Wireless@SG Program
Infocomm Development Authority (IDA)
CNET-Asia Blogs: Gin’s Tonic - Singapore to get free national Wi-Fi from January 2007
CNET News.com: Singapore- One Nation Under WiFi
Thames Free PAW
Paris Free PAW
ars technica - Paris says ‘oui’ toWiFi
Inflight WiFi
mVoIP
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February 3rd, 2010 at 7:44 pm
You have just saved my life and couldn’t get a clue how I could make it. Thanks.