Wireless to Enhance Mining Safety and Communications
In the aftermath of the Sago mine disaster, the US Government set in place a timetable for underground coal mining operations to upgrade procedures, equipment, and technology with the passage of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act in 2006.
From Mesh Dynamics, March 28, 2008
Minneapolis Wi-Fi Network at Completion by Month's End
The installation of Minneapolis' Wi-Fi network will be finished at the end of this month. The system was actually supposed to be finished late last year. But despite some setbacks during the construction process, the Minneapolis network appears to be doing much better than other cities' attempts at wireless broadband internet access.
From Minnesota Public Radio, March 28, 2008
Media Have It Wrong on Municipal Wireless
The business model that faltered in 2007 was the "private corporate franchise" model based on the deal that Philadelphia and EarthLink agreed to in 2006. It was, in fact, the free market that failed last year - not governments in their traditional role as the builders and maintainers of critical infrastructure.
From Digital Communities, March 28, 2008
Houston Uses Earthlink Cash to Bring Poor Areas Online
The long-term possibility, White said, is that the areas between the bubbles could eventually be included, providing access across the city.
From Houston Chronicle, March 28, 2008
With Auction Finished, Cox to Offer Wireless Broadband?
While Cox hasn't publicly stated what they plan to do with this spectrum, the geographic limitations of the spectrum mirrors their existing cable footprint -- leading to obvious speculation that the company will be offering wireless broadband before too long.
From DSL Reports, March 28, 2008
CableCos Join The $3 Billion U.S. WiMAX Rescue Act
The WSJ reports that Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks are contemplating investing $1.6 billion in a new company that would be operated by Sprint-Nextel and Clearwire.
From GigaOM, March 28, 2008
Gartner: India 6.9 Million Wimax Connections 2011 End
Although the Indian government is strongly promoting WiMAX as a technology to connect the country with broadband services, the country-specific mobile broadband framework makes a nationwide rollout of WiMAX cost prohibitive
From Cellular-News, March 28, 2008
US Wi-Fi Piggybacking Won't Put You in Pokey
Maryland-based LeRoy Myers proposed in the bill, heard last week, that those who used others' Wi-Fi connections without permission should face up to 36 months behind bars plus a fine of up to $1,000.
From The Register, March 28, 2008
Wired's Wi-Fi Map Mash-Up
Massive-scale, citywide wi-fi projects might be a bust, but Wired's handy map mashup from last month shows that 116 U.S. cities/towns have smaller-scale municipal wi-fi projects, and dozens more are under construction or in development.
From Wired Magazine, March 28, 2008
Big-City Muni Wi-Fi Dead, Urban Wireless Isn't
AT&T (T) is offering most of its residential broadband subscribers free wi-fi access at its network of 10,000 hotspots, like Starbucks (SBUX) stores, McDonald's (MCD) restaurants, and Barnes & Noble (BKS) bookstores.
From Silicon Alley Insider, March 28, 2008
