Wi-Fi and Quality of Life

Cities are planning major wireless infrastructure projects to provide city-wide wireless access. Taipei wants to build the world's largest "hotspot" providing outdoor Internet access throughout the city. [Via Slashdot] The article quotes a Taipei city official who talks about the Wi-Fi project as not only beneficial to businesses but also to improve residents' quality of life [Italics mine].

1 minute read

November 19, 2004, 8:56 AM PST

By Abhijeet Chavan @legalaidtech

Cities are planning major wireless infrastructure projects to provide city-wide wireless access. Taipei wants to build the world's largest "hotspot" providing outdoor Internet access throughout the city. [Via Slashdot]

The article quotes a Taipei city official who talks about the Wi-Fi project as not only beneficial to businesses but also to improve residents' quality of life [Italics mine].

Is wireless Internet access already important enough to cities to qualify as a "quality of life" issue? Apparently, many cities seem to think so...

"New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Jerusalem are among cities with similar ambitions, and about a quarter of Amsterdam is already connected..."

Abhijeet Chavan

Abhijeet Chavan is the co-founder and former co-editor-in-chief of Planetizen and the executive producer of Planetizen Courses. He was also the chief technology officer of Urban Insight, Inc., the technology consulting firm that operates Planetizen. Abhijeet Chavan has over 20 years of technology consulting experience working with government, higher education, legal services, and non-profit clients.

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