Paris district offers free Wi-Fi and testbed for wireless applications

The second arrondissement of Paris, a district known as Sentier, will have free Wi-Fi access beginning 9 June 2007 for a period of 18 months. Fifty companies, from large telecom operators to startups, have signed up to test applications on the network. The second arrondissement of Paris, as district known as Sentier, will have free Wi-Fi access beginning 9 June 2007. Fifty companies, from large telecom operators to startups, have signed up to test applications on the network.

The project to turn the district into a quartier num?¬©rique was launched by Silicon Sentier and is supported by the local district council and the region of Ile-de-France. The purpose is to test mobile technologies. In addition to setting up a Wi-Fi network, they are deploying a fiber optic network, according to Le Monde. I am not sure this is accurate because I know there’s already a lot of fiber in the Sentier area so perhaps this means FTTH. A local firm called Lip6 will be studying user behavior in the Sentier over the next 18 months.

Go to www.quartiernumerique.org.