Advocates In Wi-Fi Hopeful Cities Get Political

The technology is here; now supporters need to garner enough political support and funding to make the dream a reality.

1 minute read

January 20, 2006, 5:00 AM PST

"Wireless advocates no longer dangle dangerously from rooftops mounting antennas built inside potato-chip cans, although some still provide technical help to business owners and nonprofit groups in creating free Wi-Fi hot spots."

"The problems that were hard in 2001 were technical ones...Now, they're personal and relationship and political ones. The technology, we almost don't even think about it anymore", says one advocate.

"Many wireless advocates said they already had relationships with local politicians, and now were stepping up to the state level; some were contacted by officials trying to make sense of broadband policy. Richard MacKinnon, founder of the Austin Wireless City Project, testified at state hearings in Texas and joined in a successful fight against a bill to restrict municipal broadband service."

FULL STORY: Advocates of Wi-Fi in Cities Learn Art of Politics

Thursday, January 19, 2006 in The New York Times

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