MuniWireless

Will we start seeing more ads on public transport Wi-Fi? Icomera, a vendor of cellular-to-WiFi gateways on buses, trains and ferries, has launched a service that brings advertising to mobile Wi-Fi hotspots. This will allow public transport operators make money, not from passengers, but from advertisers. MoovManage Ads, an optional component of Icomera’s MoovManage web-based hotspot management service, allows operators to create and manage advertising campaigns and track their success. Advertisements are presented to hotspot users during their online session.…

I would like to thank the following companies for supporting MuniWireless in 2009 and 2010. These companies can also be found in the most recent guide on how to get a grant from the NTIA under Round 2 of the broadband stimulus. Please visit the Company Profile Pages (below) in the MuniWireless Vendor Directory.

NOTE: AllCity and Firetide…

The Chaska Herald has a long article on what is happening with the Chaska muni Wi-Fi network, one of the first in the US. It also reports on the municipal wireless networks in three Minnesota communities: Buffalo, Moorhead, and St. Paul:

For the most part, there is a greater confidence in Chaska.net these days. Bandwidth has increased (119 percent in the last year), signals have strengthened (thanks to more router gateways) and those with expectations of a system to rival cable…

For 2010, Firetide forecasts 100 percent increase in demand for city-wide wireless infrastructure mesh networks but with a focus on municipal infrastructure rather than free public Wi-Fi applications. Eager for more and affordable capacity, municipalities will turn towards wireless infrastructure mesh vendors that can provide “fiber-like” performance at a fraction of fiber’s cost for a variety of voice, video and data applications – fixed and mobile – for city-wide municipal and transportation projects.

Read more here.

Boingo Wireless announced it has signed an exclusive deal with global airport company BAA to be the sole provider of retail Wi-Fi services at six major airports in the United Kingdom. The airports to be powered by Boingo include London Heathrow (LHR), London Stansted (STN), Glasgow (GLA), Edinburgh (EDI), Aberdeen (ABZ), and Southampton (SOU). Wi-Fi services were previously provided in parallel by multiple operators, including Boingo.

In conjunction with the contract award, Boingo will open an office in London to service…

MuniWireless has published a guide for people applying for broadband grants under Round 2 of the NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). NTIA and RUS, the agencies running the BTOP and BIP programs respectively, revised their rules for round 2 based upon the experiences in round 1. People whose applications were rejected in round 1 are encouraged to apply again. Main changes in the NTIA’s Round 2: emphasis on Middle Mile projects centered around community anchor institutions such as community…