MuniWireless

Reading the US mainstream press gives you the impression that deployments of municipal wireless networks came to a complete halt when EarthLink pulled out of the business. While it’s true that the rush to deploy municipal wireless in the US has died down, the opposite is happening in Asia - especially China - where cities are rolling out large-scale Wi-Fi networks in partnership with local carriers. The latest city to announce the completion of a municipal wireless network is Hangzhou…

Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province in eastern China, has completed the first phase of a citywide wireless broadband network. Wi-Fi access is now available along the main traffic routes and popular tourist areas. The local government expects the network to be finished by 2010. Wasu Digital TV Co., the service provider, claims they will be able to provide digital TV even to users in moving vehicles (up to speeds of 40 kph). I am very skeptical of any claims…

Shanghai is rolling out wireless broadband service in partnership with Shanghai Telecom in various areas of the city. You can access the network at Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall in Huangpu District for 85 US cents per minute (which works out to about $25 for 30 minutes, very expensive).

The plan is to extend network coverage to Beijing Road Hardware Street, Yu Garden Commercial Area and Xizhang Road Commercial Area. The article says that Jiading District established a wireless network in its…

ChinaStakes.com reports that Shanghai is poised to become China’s first wireless city. It will be interesting to see if the prophecy comes true. The city is one of many in China that have undertaken wireless initiatives and it appears locked in competition with Beijing to unwire first.

Shanghai, which is arguably the country’s most commerical city in terms of its role in international trade, appears locked in competition with Beijing, the nation’s capital, in a race to claim the title of…

Think unwiring a city the size of Philadelphia, San Francisco or Houston is a big deal? Trying unwiring a city that spans 6500 square miles and serves more than 12 million people — like Beijing. That’s what’s underway today as the city revs up for the Summer Olympics, with a team headed by service provider CECT-Chinacomm and infrastructure provider Azalea Networks having deployed the network’s first 800 to 1,000 wireless nodes. Azalea Networks CEO John Elms says Phase I of…

Shanghai, China, has started has construction on a muni Wi-Fi network for its Jiading District.