Brussels gets Wi-Fi for 1 million euros

The Brussels Wi-Fi project has launched but it has cost the city 1 million EUR. I had written about the planned project last December when Minister President Daniel Ducarme proudly announced the deployment of the first 20 hotspots at the World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities on the Information Society.The Brussels Wi-Fi project has launched but it has cost the city 1 million EUR. I had written about the planned project last December when Minister President Daniel Ducarme proudly announced the deployment of the first 20 hotspots at the World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities on the Information Society.

This exorbitant amount of money has been spent (wasted?) on 20 Wi-Fi enabled kiosks which Glenn Fleishman calculates to be $60,000 per kiosk. Reminds me of those news reports about $600 Air Force toilet seats.

Here’s the Muniwireless challenge for all you vendors: for 1 million EUR, what could you do for Brussels in terms of citywide wireless broadband? How large an area of Brussels could you cover for 1 million EUR? Put it differently, how much would it have cost Brussels to deploy a citywide network if they had purchased the gear from you? Post your answers in the comments box below.

UPDATE (14 June 2004):

Nick O’Connor of Cityspace Limited emailed me and provided this clarification of the Brussels project:

“I’d like to correct the inaccuracies in your report to provide your readers with a clearer understanding of the true value of last week’s launch of i+Bruxelles, specifically:

‚Äö?Ѭ¢ The 1 million euro investment quoted is not a one-off capital injection, but funding to support a ten-year deal, providing significant development and support for this new service.

The ten-year deal covers a wide range of services, including:
‚Äö?Ѭ¢ Installation of the urban network of information kiosks;
‚Äö?Ѭ¢ Physical maintenance of current kiosks, including security;
‚Äö?Ѭ¢ Maintenance of the kiosks’ content, ensuring ip-to-the-minute information of value to citizens and businesses;
‚Äö?Ѭ¢ Technical support and ongoing repair management;
‚Äö?Ѭ¢ Cleaning and refurbishment of kiosks.

i+Bruxelles is a pioneering outdoor broadband initiative by the RBC and its partners ‚Äö?Ñ?¨ our first in continental Europe to combine kiosks and wireless and one we feel should be applauded within this fledging industry.

Further, over 250 i+Point kiosks are providing successful community services across the UK.”

Thanks Nick for sending me your comments. Cityspace is involved in a lot of e-Government initiatives — that explains the kiosks. We have to remember that there are a lot of people who don’t have their own PCs and laptops.

Here is a list of spots where the kiosks are located:

* Place Fernand Cocq – Junction Chausse d’Ixelles, Place Fernand Cocq, 1050

* Avenue de la Toison d’Or – 19 Avenue de la Toison d’Or, 1050

* Place Stephanie – Number 2, Place Stephanie, 1050

* Place du Luxembourg – Junction Place du Luxembourg, Rue de Treves, 1050

* Place Schuman – Junction Rond, Point Schuman, Rue Archimede, 1000

* Place Liedts – opposite Rue de Brabant, Avenue de la Reine, Schaerbeek, 1030

* Avenue de Tervuren – Junction Avenue de Tervuren, Rue des Tongres, Etterbeek, 1040

* Boulevard du Jardin Botanique – Junction Blvd du Jardin Botanique, Rue Neve, 1000

* Place de la Vaillance – Rue de Veweyde, Anderlecht, 1070

* Parvis Sainte-Pierre – Rue Zavier De Bue, Uccle, 1180

* Ixelles Chauss?¬©e d’Ixelles en face du n¬¨? 32 entre – Rue de Marche aux Herbes, 1000

* Parvis Saint-Gilles – Chausse de Waterloo, Sainte Gilles, 1060

* Saint-Josse, Place Saint-Josse – Rue de la Pacification – Place du Grand Sablon, 1000

* Place Jourdan – Chausse de Waure, Etterbeek, 1040

* Place Sainte-Croix / Place Flagey – Rue de Flandres, 1000

* Woluwe-St-Pierre, Avenue de Hinnisdael / Stockel Square – Avenue Imperatrice Charlotte, Loeken, 1020

* Ixelles Avenue A. Buyl / Campus du Solbosch – Avenue Adolphe Bayl, 1050

* Evere Square Hoedemaekers, face Maison Communale – Rue Jules Van Proet, Rue de Borgual, 1000

* Inside Avenue des Arts – Centre de’Informatique de la Region Bruxelloise, 21 Avenue des Arts, 1000