naperville-tv.com

Local government (and free) Wifi has been the rage in recent years.

Now, Naperville has joined the movement - http://www.naperville.il.us/wifi.aspx

Unfortunately, that movement has stalled recently, finding itself being dismissed as an unfeasible effort. One that found itself pitted against corporate America interests, who found themselves lobbying against our local city governments, all in the name of providing residents a healthy alternative to current internet connections.

This message brought to you by your friendly*, local and global internet providers ( Comcast, Verizon, ATT, etc).

*(editors note: said in jest)

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1831004,00.asp

For this service to work, it must;

1. Work. (duh) and hopefully faster than dial up -From our city leaders,”The resulting network will provide wireless Web access with download speeds up to 1 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 256 Kbps.”
2. It must be sustainable longterm. read somebody has to pay the freight)– “The service is free of charge to both users and the city. It will be funded by advertiser banners within the user’s Web browser”
3. Enough people must use it. ( time will tell -Especially when the incumbents don’t want the competition for their subs.)
4. Be safe to operate and use.
   

Lets see how the performance shapes up.

Been there, Done that.

Remember the promise?

we were promised years ago, higher speed access to media, content and things we love to watch, all coming to you at lower and lower costs ( because of all the new competition the FCC said would result) remember?- right as the cable circus was coming to town.

Well…

-Have you checked your cable bill lately?

pretty scary when you add those numbers up.

-Viewed anything interesting on those wasteland channels ?

you know, the ones you never watch, but have to pay for?

Lets not allow internet access to go down the same path.

Competition is good. Free choice even better.

I believe new internet connection services are absolutely necessary in small and large towns and cities alike, to foster innovative and next-generation services and business, that utilize access and the internet services.

Anywhere and everywhere.

Our world-wide competitiveness depends on this collectively, and will be a deciding factor to how cities compete for residential growth.

Especially dangerous is when incumbents in any industry hold back pent-up demand and innovation, all in the name of quarterly profits, sacrificing their customers best, long term, interests.
Granted, It is tricky for the government to balance business interests, fair trade and residential needs, -but who said serving the needs of constituents was easy?

That is the job our elected officials take on -by choice.

It seems fair that anyone should be able to access any information spots throughout the world, whenever, and wherever they want, similar to the open and free public roadways.( not include here are the Chicago area tollways-which are seriously broken and due another subject matter).

Freedom creates opportunity.

So lets hope this wireless network works as promised and creates opportunities for people in the city to be more productive, more responsive, and more service-oriented towards each other.