Thursday, May 17, 2007

Muni WiFi in Cincinnati

I am excited to relate to you, dear readers, that the City of Cincinnati is officially requesting the money needed to pay someone to think about the future possibility of municipal wifi.

Enquirer article

Announcement on muniwireless.com

As I have said before, I think municipal wireless is a Good Thing for several reasons. Among which are improving city services, encouraging economic development, and decreasing the "digital divide". It's not just about giving everybody free internet. See this excellent Boston Globe article for a good overview of how to approach municipal wifi projects.

Andrew Warner has already taken some sharp action on this and he's asked all of the city council members for their positions on the matter. David Crowley has already responded. Stay tuned to Mr. Warner's blog for updates on that.

Here's hoping that our leaders can put together a smart RFP and get this project rolling. There are plenty of examples to learn from, so this should be easy.

What do you think?