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Muni-Fi: $3B Spent Over Next 4 Years
Citywide wi-fi spending higher than expected
GovTech reports that more than $3 billion will be spent on public Wi-Fi by U.S. municipalities over the next four years. According to the news release, the numbers are exceeding expectations, with muni-Fi spending exceeding $235 million in 2006 -- significantly higher the forecast of $177 million made last year. The new research is being released at this week's MuniWireless '06 conference in Minneapolis, attended by more than 350 representatives from municipalities, service providers, product vendors, analysts and investors.
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motoracer
join:2003-09-15
united state

motoracer

Member

Give me Muni-Fi!

I'm jealous

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

1 edit

Transmaster

Member

I wonder

how much the Telco's are going to spend over the next four years to fight the setup of these Muni-Fi's.
sgossard34
Premium Member
join:2004-08-26
Philadelphia, PA

sgossard34

Premium Member

Re: I wonder

LOL so true. Money that could be spent actually building new services and giving us REAL competition.

Makes me cry everytime I see another muni get slammed by a lawsuit.

Still very very happy to see this money being spent.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 edit

FFH5 to Transmaster

Premium Member

to Transmaster
said by Transmaster:

how much the Telco's are going to spend over the next four years to fight the setup of these Muni-Fi's.
The telcos should save their money. All of these muni-fi's are mostly a waste of money. Their speeds are generally so slow as to be unusable for all except e-mail and rudimentary browsing.

I get a chuckle out of a lot of posters here that SCREAM bloody murder because their cable or DSL ONLY gets 6000/768. And then 10 minutes later are ecstatic because some muni-fi is providing a real throughput of 256/128.
paisp
join:2004-02-16
Newtown, PA

1 recommendation

paisp

Member

Re: I wonder

The reality is most people currently don't need anything faster.

The people here complaining about 6000/768 remind me of those losers in high school with the fast cars. They'd pop their hoods and show their engines off on a Saturday night... all this speed, nowhere to go with it.

I think the "ability" to get fast networking speeds appeals more to these people than actually USING the speed.

I dropped back to the 768k DSL service from 3.0 recently (at my house). Nobody can tell the difference, and other than for me sitting here watching an MS Update come through slower, its a non-issue. The solution to that problem.... don't watch the updates come in!

If everyone bought only the amount of speed they needed, I think we'd all find that the those who want/need more are a very small percentage that the telcos/cablecos would like to exterminate anyway. And that most people would be paying $15.00/month and that Muni-FI is more than enough.

My 2 cents.

Racer X
join:2000-09-14
Barrington, IL

Racer X

Member

Re: I wonder

Personally I have 6.0/768 at my house. I use it quite frequently for gaming, downloading legal music and hosting a game server for friends. I also use it to log onto my work PC and stream real time data, including large blocks of graphics, so I can work from home.

So what if people want a faster connection than you. Let them pay for it and you can enjoy the lower pricing you get as a result.

p.s. I also have a modified car that I take to car shows and pop the hood so people can look at it. I also drive it on the racetrack. Frequently. Blanket statements are ignorant.

manyou07
@128.135.x.x

manyou07 to paisp

Anon

to paisp
More bandwidth is a good thing. The difference between 768 and 6000 may not make a difference with email, but with more and more sites offering streaming audio and video services and video downloads, the download time can go way down and quality can go up with that added bandwidth. Video is the issue. (And bittorrent.)

As for slow, free WiFi, that would be great, too. My DSL was out for a week and a half last month while AT&T couldn't figure out what was wrong. If I could have picked up a free WiFi signal, it would have been no problem. Also, some people are still using Dial-up, if you can believe it. Netzero is $15/month, and AT&T (the only DSL provider in the area) is $15 but only for a promotional period, then the price goes up. A slow WiFi for $10 or $15 would be a step up from dial-up.

NJxxxJon
2 0 1 7 Mmm Here We go man!
Premium Member
join:2005-10-22

NJxxxJon

Premium Member

F R E E

My WIFI is F-R-E-E in my downtown. No money spent for our local airwaves