My "Internet Evolution" column: What's the truth about municipal WiFi?

It hasn’t been a good 12 months for the proponents of municipal WiFi.  Many publications are writing about the “death” or, at least, the failure of many municipal WiFi efforts.

Earthlink’s abandonment of the business — for which it created a specific venture and won multiple city contracts — has helped to spark the large number of articles.  It’s a complicated issue, and there isn’t one specific reason why large-scale WiFi systems have had problems.

I wrote about the problems in my weekly mobile communications column for CMP’s “Internet Evolution” Web site (see below).  Municipal WiFi systems have had to face such challenges as cost overruns, in-building penetration, underestimating the number of hotspots required and trying to satisfy too many target markets.

However, this isn’t the end of WiFi for cities.  There are potential opportunities in smaller cities, for vertical market applications and also as a component of other telecommunications networks.

For more information, check out my column, including some of the interesting links to other articles provided in the comments.