Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Mobile/Wireless Computing
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Opinion: There's no such thing as free metro Wi-Fi

Toward a five-tiered approach to municipal wireless

August 15, 2007 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - My father, whose politics tended toward the conservative end of the scale, once showed me a bumper sticker that simply said "TINSTAAFL". It was the '60's, so I assumed this was a South African word promoting one position or another from that troubled part of the world, or some such.

He later explained that it stood for "there is no such thing as a free lunch." While my politics differed over time from my father's, I still appreciate the sentiment embodied in this acronym.

After all, while the air and beautiful sunsets are, indeed, free, the idea that something tangible could be truly free is almost never found in the economics of the industrialized world. The whole idea of value-add, by definition, implies associated cost. And while the owner of an item or service might choose to give it away without charge, this is rarely possible on a sustained basis.

Yes, the private sector can get away with "free," at least on a temporary basis, in the form of loss leaders and such. However, I think we need to draw the line when it comes to government-sponsored services, particularly metro-scale, public-access Wi-Fi.

I should probably mention that I am a former member of the board of selectmen in my town. For those of you who are not from New England, a board of selectmen is similar to a city council. I am one of the authors of my town's telecommunications ordinance, which basically creates a level playing field for all players. While in office, I pursued a policy of letting the private sector worry about telecommunications while we worried about picking up the trash and running the schools. And we could barely accomplish those tasks with the resources we had; dealing with failed Skype connections at 4 a.m. was truly beyond our capabilities.

But mostly I objected to government getting involved in what should be the province of the private sector and the (admittedly flawed) competitive free market. Sure, it's enticing to think that a wireless telecommunications service, and broadband at that, could be made available for free. But since base stations and network management systems and such are clearly not free, what we're really talking about here is whether one group of residents (and usually visitors) should be forced to pay more in taxes or fees so that others can pay less or, if the system is truly free, nothing.

But why should Wi-Fi be free, anyway? Telephone service, wired or wireless, isn't free. Cable broadband and DSL aren't free. Other forms of broadband, delivered by terrestrial microwave and satellites, aren't free. Why should Wi-Fi be free, especially considering that "free" means that someone else is paying?



Jump to comments

municipal Wi-Fi

Additional Resources

EFD vs. HDD - What You Need to Know
WHITE PAPER
Enterprise flash drives provide a new Tier 0 storage layer capable of delivering high I/O performance at a very low latency. Proper use of EFDs in an Oracle environment can deliver increased performance compared to fibre channel drives. Read the recommendations for identification of the best DB components for EFDs.
Gartner Research Report: Magic Quadrant for Application Delivery Controllers, 2009
WHITE PAPER
The market for products to improve the delivery of application software over networks remains dynamic and innovative. Vendors focused on solving enterprises' most-pressing application problems have become the top players.
Eight Criteria for Server Load Balancing
WHITE PAPER
Server load balancers are a simple yet highly effective means to scale an application environment while ensuring its availability. Today's solutions should also address application performance and security. Read about the top eight criteria you should consider when choosing a server load balancer and how Citrix NetScaler meets those requirements.

What People Are Saying

White Papers & Webcasts

Accelerating Your Mobile Workers: Controlling the Uncontrollable
Today's workforce is truly mobile. Unlike the managed environment of the office LAN, remote users face many challenges to being productive while out...

eGuide: Enterprise Security
Smart Security Strategies for 2010. Read now!  

Managing Laptops Outside the Office
Learn how you can reduce costs by tracking mobile computers no matter where they are located.

Mobile U Webinar
Watch Now!

The New Mobile Order
Download Now  

4G Ahead Video Program
Uncover the features and benefits of the two leading 4G technologies for enterprises considering future deployment.

WAN Application Delivery for Executives
Learn how to simplify server and application administration without creating performance problems for distributed users.  

Horror stories: Managing IT Across Multiple Locations
How one extra sharp IT manager eliminates daily agony, hassle and repetition.


IT Jobs