Please see the panOULU network (http://www.panoulu.net) for a concrete example of a truly open municipal wireless network in the City of Oulu in northern Finland. You do not need any user account nor pay anything to use the network. There are no limitations on the use of network (excluding blocking of outgoing TCP port 25 (SMTP), which is required by law in Finland).

The network is offered by the panOULU consortium as a public-private partnership, where City of Oulu is a key player. The network is effectively pooled from the “visitor networks” provided by the public sector (City of Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu Polytechnic, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland) and the panOULU subscriptions offered by three telcos. By purchasing a panOULU subscription any organization can offer open and free-to-use panOULU hotspot in its premises.

The network currently totals about 715 AP’s (WiFi, IEEE 802.11a/b/g). The AP’s are in the same layer 2 network, which in turn ensures “seamless” mobility. Hence, from the user’s point of view, the AP’s appear as one large uniform network. About 70 AP’s provide currently outdoor coverage in selected areas. 15 AP’s are “mobile” in panOULU buses, a mobile library and a ferry.

The primary usage of the panOULU network is to provide open and free wireless broadband Internet access to the general public. In February 2007, 6091 devices used the network, totaling 138278 sessions and 4.5 million online minutes. Every month 1000-2500 devices are visitors, stopping by in Oulu and using the network to their benefit. The number of multi-mode devices (with cellular and WLAN radios) using the network has been growing rapidly. The secondary usage of the panOULU network is to serve as R&D resource – please click to panOULU website for examples.

As of now, about 250 of the 715 AP’s are provided by City of Oulu. They cover a large number of public service points of City of Oulu such as libraries, schools, health stations, city hospital, sports facilities, city theatre, city hall, youth and culture center, elderly centers, etc. The 2.4 million euro COMPETENCE Oulu 400 program (http://www.ouka.fi/taito), granted by the city council, will among other things expand the city’s zone in panOULU network by additional 175 AP’s by the end of year 2007. By then we’re very close to the vision that panOULU network is available in almost all public service points provided by City of Oulu. The expansion will include 60 Strix systems OWS 2400 AP’s for deploying the first large outdoor WiFi mesh network in Finland.

Michael Keegan
Mayor ProTem
Hermosa Beach, CA