MuniWireless

The Detroit Free Press posted a good summary of city and county wireless projects in Michigan: Wireless Oakland county, one of the most publicized countywide wireless projects, has a running pilot program, but the county has delayed the expansion of the network throughout its jurisdiction. Similarly, Washtenaw county with its 28 square mile network, has run into difficulty convincing investors to expand its network. Click here to read about what’s happening in Wayne, Macomb and Livingston counties.

In none of the…

With a pilot project supporting seven local communities up and running, the service provider building and operating the wireless network for Oakland County, Mich., is putting a hold on further build-out until private investors commit to funding the reminder of the project’s deployment. Oakland County CIO Phil Bertolini said MichTel Communications LLC, the builder and ultimate owner of the network, is hoping to close commitments for much, if not all, of the estimated $70 million it estimates will be needed…

Microsoft’s new alliance with JiWire to deliver “ultramercials” online greatly enhances the business case for free wireless Internet access supported by advertising. This could be just what the muni market needs to revive interest in free ad-sponsored service on muni networks.

The ad supported model took off like a shot a few years back with munis looking to their Internet providers to generate enough revenue from the private sector to underwrite the cost to deploy a network and provide free service…