City Governments Begin To Offer Their Own Wi-Fi Networks

Reuters has an interesting look at the efforts of some city governments to create their own Wi-Fi networks:

A number of U.S. cities are becoming giant wireless “hot spots” where Internet users will be able to log on from the beach or a bus stop, a trend that is triggering a fierce backlash from telecom and cable giants.

“We look at this as another utility just like water, sewer, parks and recreation, that our communities should have,” said St. Cloud, Florida, Mayor Glen Sangiovanni, who hopes to provide free wireless service to the entire city by the fall.

For some thoughts on the negatives of this approach, be sure to check out this Reason article by Tim Cavanaugh from November of last year.

I’ll be curious to see what impact WiMax will have on the municipalities’ efforts in the coming years.