MuniWireless

Nearly every online tech publication, including this one, has written about the AT&T announcement offering free Wi-Fi access to iPhone users at Starbucks. Unfortunately in at least two Starbucks locations — Bush Street at Grant in San Francisco and California Avenue in Palo Alto — it’s not working. Indeed AT&T’s splash page sends users to T-Mobile!

Here’s a note I received from an iPhone user today:

I went to the Starbucks on California Ave. in Palo Alto. My iPhone shows two SSIDs:…

Blyk, the European MVNO targeting 16-to-24 year olds, has raised 40 million EUR in a third round of funding. I’ve written about Blyk’s unusual business model — free phone calls and text messages in exchange for viewing MMS and SMS advertising. While it might sound like “free WiFi in exchange for ads”, there’s a big difference. Blyk is using existing networks, not building its own, by buying wholesale capacity from operators such as Vodafone. It also acts as a consultant…

Meraki has just released a cute Wi-Fi Wall Plug which hotel and apartment building managers can install in rooms and apartment units to expand Wi-Fi access throughout their properties. The Wall Plug (pictured below) looks like the Apple Airport Express and costs $179. In addition, Meraki is now marketing a Residential WiFi Pack (which includes Wall Plugs) for less than $5000. The pack is designed to bring wireless access to a 100-unit building with minimum installation hassles and faster time…

There’s a lot of speculation among analysts that Obama’s election signifies the bursting of the security bubble. In the past eight years, billions of dollars have been poured (some say wasted) into IP video security applications in airports, sea ports, border areas, etc. Some analysts are predicting fewer government grants for homeland security and municipal projects. In surveys we’ve done here at Muniwireless, the number one application that municipalities want to use on their muni wireless networks is wireless video…

The New America Foundation is holding an event called “Homes with Tails: what if you could own your Internet connection” on Friday, November 21, 2008 from 12:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. at the New America Foundation, 1630 Connecticut Ave NW, 7th Floor, Washington, DC 20009.

Here’s a description of the topics to be discussed (from the New America Foundation website):

America’s path to becoming a broadband leader is uncertain. Few dispute that deploying fast, universal, and affordable broadband is imperative, but the costs of…

Early this year, Houston decided to take $3.5 million from EarthLink in exchange for releasing EarthLink from its obligation to build out the citywide Wi-Fi network. Houston had planned to create small Wi-Fi hotzones (called “Wi-Fi bubbles”) in targeted low-income neighborhoods.

Unfortunately, as the Houston Chronicle reports, instead of creating Wi-Fi hotzones that allow anyone in the neighborhood to access the Internet wirelessly, the city is limiting access to people who enrol in certain classes and programs in community centers:

“Instead, the…