MuniWireless

Charlotte, N.C., moved muni Wi-Fi to the backburner after its proposed private partner, EarthLink, began insisting on an anchor tenant commitment. Now city leaders say they may take a cue from nearby Winston-Salem which will soon begin offering wireless broadband to 225,000 residents.

The Charlotte Observer has an interesting comparison of the two projects. Charlotte issued an RFP and negotiated with EarthLink for a year. Winston-Salem, on the other hand, leveraged the city’s previously installed fiber optic ring and worked with…

While others have abandoned the ad-supported model, a commercial service provider in North Carolina intends to use it to generate revenues to subsidize free Wi-Fi service in the city of Concord.While others have abandoned the ad-supported model, a commercial service provider in North Carolina intends to use it to generate revenues to subsidize free Wi-Fi service in the city of Concord.

WildFire Connections intends to sell local online advertising, displayed on the service’s welcome page, to subsidize the free service. According…

Brian Russell, a blogger on OrangePolitics.org, has numerous proposals for promoting usage. He has been mapping hot spots around N. Carolina and has posted a number of online maps showing where they are. He proposes using the open Wi-Fi symbol of two facing crescents to clearly show the public hot spot locations.

Brian tells us that he plans to host Chapel Hill Wireless Tailgate Parties to help promote the hot spots when they’re up and running. He says “I will go…