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May 17, 2007 • 10:20 pm 0

NYC Broadband Advisory Committee Meeting on May 22 in Brooklyn

The second NYC Broadband Advisory Committee meeting is being held next week at Brooklyn Borough Hall. NYCwireless was at the first meeting in The Bronx, and while it was mostly attended by the usual suspects, there were a few new people who testified, including both high school and college students from the area.

The Advisory Committee “has a blog”:4 and “email address”:mailto:nycbroadband@gmail.com.

bq. On Tuesday, May 22nd from Noon to 3 pm, in the Courtroom hearing room, on the 2nd floor of Brooklyn Borough Hall, the New York City Broadband Advisory Committee will convene its second public hearing to hear testimony from Brooklyn residents, nonprofit organizations and businesses. The Committtee would like to get feedback on the following questions:
* Why is a fast affordable Internet connection important to you?
* What do you consider an “affordable” fee to pay for an high-speed connection to the Internet?
* If you have a broadband connection, what do you use it for (e.g., help your child do his/her homework)?
* If don’t have broadband or if you had a faster connection to the Internet, what would you use it for (e.g., market your business on-line or look for a job)?

bq. Gale and I would like to thank the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz for their help in securing this beautiful space. Brooklyn Borough Hall is located at “209 Joralemon Street in downtown Brooklyn”:1. Here is a link to a Google map of where the hearing location, including where the closest subway stops are:

bq. *WITNESSES*: If you or anyone you know would like to testify at this hearing (and put on the official witness list), please contact “Jeff Baker”:mailto:jeffrey.baker@council.nyc.ny.us (212-788-9193), Counsel to the Committee on Technology in Government. Brooklyn parents of schoolchildren, schoolchildren, nonprofit leaders, small business owners and senior citizens are particularly encouraged to testify. Anyone who attends the hearing is also free and encouraged to testify with no advance notice required.

bq. *RATIONALE FOR THE BROADBAND ADVISORY COMMITTEE*: I recently published a “blog post in the Huffington Post”:3 regarding our championing of the New York City Broadband Advisory Committee and the issue of universal, affordable access to broadband in New York City.

bq. *COMMITTEE MEMBERS*: Here’s a list of the “members of the Advisory Committee”:4 along with their bios.

bq. *RECAP OF THE MARCH 30TH BRONX BROADBAND HEARING*: On Friday, March 30th, more than 200 people joined us on at Bronx Community College for the first-ever public hearing on broadband in New York City. Over 30 members of the public testified, including Bronx residents, public school students, leaders of nonprofit organizations and small business owners.

bq. The following are links to articles about the hearing in the Bronx on March 30th:
* “NY Daily News”:5
* “Newsday”:6
* “Metro”:7
* “NY1″:8
* “InformationWeek”:9
* “Norwood News”:10
* “Chelsea Now”:11
* “Civil Defense”:12

bq. A really good “audio 3 minute recap”:13 (or podcast) of the Bronx hearing is available. (Thanks Kat Aaron of WBAI!)

bq. The “entire video”:14 of the entire Bronx hearing is available. (Thank you BronxNet!)

bq. *BROADBAND BRIEFING PAPER*: Here’s a “briefing paper”:15 (by the Committee on Technology in Government, not the NYC Broadband Advisory Committee) on the subject of broadband. (Thank you Colleen Pagter, Policy Analyst of the Committee on Technology in Government!)

[1]http://www.google.com/maps?q=209+Joralemon+St,+Brooklyn,+New+York+11201,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title
[3]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-lai/the-future-of-digital-new_b_46221.html
[4]http://nycbroadband.blogspot.com/2007/03/list-of-members-of-committee.html
[5]http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/bronx/2007/03/27/20070327_air_your_views_at_wifi_public_hearing.html
[6]http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nybroa305151459mar30,0,4224312.story
[7]http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/Bridging_the_digital_divide/7717.html
[8]http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=68237&search_result=1&stid=12
[9]http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198100613&subSection=Breaking+News
[10]http://www.bronxmall.com/norwoodnews/news/N70419page3.html
[11]http://www.chelseanow.com/cn_27/chelseahighschool.html
[12]http://breitbart.wordpress.com/2007/04/03/bac-audio
[13]http://odeo.com/audio/11062793/view
[14]http://www.bronxnet.org/c_program/whats_new/whats_new.htm
[15]http://nycbroadband.blogspot.com/2007/04/broadband-briefing-paper-type-here-full.html

Filed under: Event, New York City, NYCwireless, Policy

April 30, 2007 • 7:30 am 0

WSJ Online: ISPs, Businesses and Even Cities Seek to Offer Cheap or Free Connections — Which Will Win?

I was “recently interviewed”:1 about the recent “FON and Time Warner Cable announcement”:2 by Jason Fry for his Wall Street Journal Online column “Real Time”. FON and Time Warner Cable recently came to an agreement to allow TWC subscribers to set up FON hotspots. Much about this deal is unclear, including how the revenue sharing is working from FON to TWC (FON is surely paying TWC in some way).

Here are some excerpts from “my interview”:1:

bq. …

bq. Dana Spiegel, executive director of NYCwireless, is skeptical of the deal’s impact, seeing it as little more than a public-relations move for both companies. Fon’s network, he says, is “to be perfectly blunt, tiny” and predominantly residential, making it not particularly valuable in public places. Ms. Rees says Fon has 60,000 Foneros in the U.S., though she acknowledges that Fon may not have the visibility of, say, T-Mobile with its Starbucks locations. While she maintains Fon’s footprint will be more effective over the long term, “over the short term we have to be strategic.” An example of that strategy: a “Fonbucks” campaign in which Fon has given away free La Foneras to people living near coffee shops.

bq. Mr. Spiegel calls Time Warner Cable’s deal with Fon “a parasitic billing system … I’m paying the same amount of money for less service and Time Warner Cable is getting more money from what I’ve already paid for.” His volunteer group’s members create free hot spots in New York City parks and public spaces and help bring free wireless Net access to underserved communities. In his view, NYCwireless’s approach is better: “Instead of taking a reduction in my value and handing it back to Time Warner, I’m taking that value and spreading it out among my local community.”

bq. Then there are efforts by cities and towns to offer cheap or free Wi-Fi. The most celebrated such efforts are taking shape in Philadelphia and San Francisco, but many other cities and towns are pursuing that goal, motivated by a desire to bridge the “digital divide” between rich and poor and eagerness to bill themselves as tech-friendly.

bq. One thing Mr. Spiegel and Ms. Rees seem to agree on: It’s too simplistic to see muni Wi-Fi as a threat to the aspirations of big ISPs and other wireless providers. Rather, muni Wi-Fi is likely to be complementary to such efforts. “What municipal offerings do is raise the baseline,” Mr. Spiegel says, contending that such services will primarily convert those left behind today. “Today’s baseline is dial-up. When municipal networks roll out, you’ll see a move from dial-up” up to a new baseline.

bq. …

bq. “When first introduced, [air-conditioning] was a luxury item,” Mr. Spiegel notes. “Stores that installed it saw a benefit. As it became more available, more and more stores added it and it became more of a cost of doing business.”

bq. So it will be with wireless. And as with air-conditioning, we’ll be startled to find ourselves going without now and again. We’ll even feel nostalgic about it.

[1]http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117743976135380805.html
[2]http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/04-23-2007/0004571121&EDATE=

Filed under: Interview, Muniwireless, New York City, News, NYCwireless

April 25, 2007 • 7:18 pm 0

Community Wireless Summit May 18-20, 2007 — Washington, DC.

Here’s the announcement for the “International Summit for Community Wireless Networks”:1 that’s happing in the middle of may. This is a great conference, and I’ll be hosting a panel on holistic design for community and muni-wireless networks.

bq. *INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT TO ADDRESS FUTURE OF BROADBAND*

bq. Community Technology Leaders from Six Continents to Participate

bq. Champaign-Urbana, I.L., April 18 — The CUWiN Foundation and the Center for Community Informatics (CCI) will host the International Summit for Community Wireless Networks (“http://WirelessSummit.org”:1) from May 18-20, 2007 at Loyola College in Columbia, Maryland.

bq. The summit is the largest gathering of wireless network developers, technology and policy experts, and community organizers working to build universal, low-cost broadband networks around the world. “We are proud to host an event that brings together technologists and activists committed to universal access to informatics,” said Marco Figueiredo, CCI Director.

bq. “The International Summit for Community Wireless Networks explores the opportunities and challenges facing the growing movement to build community and municipal broadband networks,” said Sascha Meinrath, co-founder and Executive Director of CUWiN. “This event showcases cutting-edge technologies and develops political strategies to increase digital inclusion.”

bq. Since the first National Summit for Community Wireless Networks in 2004, over 300 Community Internet and municipal broadband projects have sprung up in the United States alone. The Summit will focus on how these networks can better serve their target populations, the policies needed to support broader deployment of community wireless systems, and the latest technological and software innovations.

bq. Presenters at previous summits have included FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, Jim Baller of the Baller Herbst Law Group, Annie Collins of Fiber for Our Future, Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America, Harold Feld of Media Access Project, Robert W. McChesney of Free Press, Matt Rantanen of Tribal Digital Village, Greg Richardson of Civitium LLC, Paul Smith of the Center for Neighborhood Technologies, Jim Snider of the New America Foundation, Dana Spiegel of NYCwireless, Esme Vos of Muniwireless.com and many other luminaries.

bq. “High-speed broadband access is the electricity of the 21st century, yet many rural and poorer urban communities are being left off the grid,” said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, the DC-based policy think-tank. “The innovators and organizers at the International Summit for Community Wireless Networks are blazing the trail to make broadband affordable and available to everyone.”

bq. *About CUWiN (“http://www.cuwin.net”:2)*

bq. The CUWiN Foundation is a world-renowned coalition of wireless developers and community volunteers committed to providing low-cost, do-it-yourself, community-controlled alternatives to contemporary broadband models. CUWiN is fiscally sponsored by Grassroots.org, a non-profit 501c3. CUWiN’s mission is to develop decentralized, community-owned networks that foster democratic cultures and local content. Through advocacy and through our commitment to open source technology, CUWiN supports organic networks that grow to meet the needs of their communities.

bq. *About CCI (“http://cci.cs.loyola.edu”:3)*

bq. The Center for Community Informatics engages Loyola College’s students, faculty and staff in supporting the creation and deployment of informatics tools for community empowerment. CCI develops the Community Telecenter Free Software Toolset; promotes awareness events for the Loyola College community; offer courses in Community Informatics; promotes Digital Inclusion Conferences; researches and develops human-friendly technologies to facilitate inclusion in the New Society of Knowledge; and, evaluates, documents and develops sustainable models for Universal Access to Informatics.

[1]http://WirelessSummit.org
[2]http://cci.cs.loyola.edu
[3]http://www.cuwin.net

Filed under: Community Wireless, NS4CWN, NYCwireless

March 24, 2007 • 2:28 pm 0

Updated: NYC Broadband Advisory Committee Meeting on March 30 in The Bronx

A few weeks ago, I “posted information about the NYC Broadband Advisory Committee Meeting”:1 taking place on March 30. Here’s more information about the location and directions to the hearing. Also, the Advisory Committee “has a blog”:4 and “email address”:mailto:nycbroadband@gmail.com.

bq. Sponsored by Office of Council Member Gale A. Brewer (CD 6 – Manhattan), the Office of the Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Bronx Community College and the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO), the New York City Broadband Advisory Committee will hold its first public hearing on Friday, March 30, from 10 am to Noon, in the Gould Memorial Library Auditorium, Bronx Community College, University Avenue at W. 181st Street. Below are directions.

bq. *Directions via Subway*

bq. Take the 4 train to Burnside Avenue. Go west on West Burnside Avenue for 4 blocks until you reach University Avenue. You should see the campus of Bronx Community College (BCC) in front of you. Turn right on University Avenue, walking alongside the BCC Campus until you reach the Front Gate at W. 181st Street. Take a left up the stairs to enter the college. Be prepared to present identification to the Public Safety Officer at the front gate. Go straight until you reach Language Hall and take a right. Immediately after Language Hall is Gould Memorial Library on your left. The auditorium is downstairs on the lower level of the Library.

bq. Here is a map of the Bronx Community College campus: “http://www.bcc.cuny.edu/tour/tour.htm”:2

bq. *Handicap Accessible Entrance to Gould Memorial Library*

bq. The handicap accessible entrance is at the rear of Gould Memorial Library. To get to that entrance, instead of turning right at Language Hall, go straight down the path. Then take the next right. Go straight down the hill until you reach the back of Gould Memorial Library. To your right will be double doors, which will lead you to the handicap accessible entrance to the Gould Memorial Library auditorium.

bq. *Directions via Car*

bq. The following is a link to directions to Bronx Community College if you are driving: “http://www.bcc.cuny.edu/directions/directions.htm”:3

bq. Public parking is located immediately after you enter the car entrance to Bronx Community College.

[1]http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2007/03/05/nyc-broadband-advisory-committee-meeting-on-march-30-in-the-bronx/
[2]http://www.bcc.cuny.edu/tour/tour.htm
[3]http://www.bcc.cuny.edu/directions/directions.htm
[4]http://www.nycbroadband.blogspot.com/

Filed under: Event, New York City, NYCwireless, Policy

March 16, 2007 • 2:03 pm 0

New America's Comments to FCC Arguing for Unlicensed Access to Unused TV Channels

NYCwireless signed onto comments that the New America Foundation with Media Access Project and allies (NAF, et al.) filed with the FCC about opening up unused “white space” TV band channels for use in broadband and wireless networks. The FCC Docket 04-186 is an essential measure to make more public spectrum available for building community (and other) networks, especially in rural spaces, but also in urban ones as well.

You can read the comments that were filed:

“Economic/Legal Reply Comments”:1
“Technical Reply Comments”:2

[1]http://www.newamerica.net/publications/resources/2007/reply_comments_to_fcc_on_tv_white_spaces_nprm
[2]http://www.newamerica.net/publications/resources/2007/technical_reply_comments_to_fcc_on_tv_white_spaces_nprm

Filed under: NYCwireless, Policy

March 14, 2007 • 8:21 am 0

Presentation on Estonia Wireless

John Heywood, Assistant Director of CITI, the “Columbia Institute for Tele-Information”:1, spoke at our February NYCwireless meeting about his research in Estonia and their extensive Wi-Fi program.

He talked about how Estonia became so Wi-Fi savvy. Apparently, when the country was still part of Russia, residents were able to receive TV and radio signals from Finland, and saw how wireless technologies were helping that country grow. When they became independent, the country as a whole made a decision to pursue what it saw as a way to become an economic powerhouse, and started innovative initiatives to develop wireless technologies. Estonia is now synonymous with technology innovation.

Estonia also has one of the most extensive “community wireless Wi-Fi networks”:3 of any country. And apparently the guy who started wifi.ee took as his inspiration the work NYCwireless has done building wireless parks, like Bryant Park.

Check out “John’s presentation (pdf)”:2, which has lots of interesting information about what’s going on in Estonia.

[1]http://www.citi.columbia.edu
[2]http://www.starfid.com/nycwireless.pdf
[3]http://www.wifi.ee

Filed under: Community Wireless, International, NYCwireless

March 10, 2007 • 1:20 pm 0

iPass Publishes Wi-Fi Usage Index

iPass, a network connection aggregator that concentrates on business users, has just “published a Wi-Fi Hotspot Index”:1 based on their user data. Given iPass’ size, they represent a significan proportion of all of the paid Wi-Fi usage throughout the world, so their data shows some very interesting trends.

The report shows data for more than 1 million users across more than 76,000 aggregated hotspots in 68 countries. Of particular note is the venue types: Cafes show the most popular usage with an average of 2 hours per connection. These numbers align well with NYCwireless usage patterns for our “SuperNodes”:2.

[1]http://www.ipass.com/pressroom/pressroom_wifi.html
[2]http://auth.nycwireless.net

Filed under: News, NYCwireless

March 10, 2007 • 1:20 pm 0

Interview: Wireless co. — We’re a latte cheaper than Starbucks (The Villager)

Julie Shapiro interviewed me for an article she wrote in The Villager, a local NYC news-weekly titled “Wireless co.: We’re a latte cheaper than Starbucks”:1. The article talks about “FON” (about which I’ve written in the past) and their new plan to get people who live near Starbucks coffeeshops to install FON routers.

I talked to Julie about the fact that I’m very skeptical about FON’s plan, at least in New York City. First, for every coffeeshop in NYC, there’s maybe a couple of apartments that could offer competing coverage. And if the Starbucks is in a commercial building, the business on the 2nd floor isn’t going to install a FON router just to get the few dollars of revenue share that they might see.

bq. Most of the FON hotspots Spiegel has seen in New York City are in the apartments of people who live above the first or second floors. Since wireless Internet travels only 100 to 150 feet indoors, “Only a handful of apartments are able to take advantage of the hotspots,” Spiegel said. “Everyone else in New York City has no advantage.”

bq. While some Starbucks are located on the first floor of apartment buildings, others are in business buildings, surrounded by open lobbies with high ceilings, Spiegel said. In these cases, he doubts anyone will be able to take advantage of the FON promotion.

And of course, there’s the ISP acceptable usage policies, which make FON-type sharing illegal, unless you use an independent ISP or business-grade DSL connection:

bq. Besides, Spiegel said, sharing one’s Internet service can be illegal. Internet service providers like Comcast and Time Warner do not allow consumers to resell their Internet connection — in fact, consumers aren’t even allowed to give the connection away for free. Smaller companies like Speakeasy and bway.net, on the other hand, allow consumers to profit from reselling.

bq. Spiegel estimates that 99 percent of all Internet connections in the United States fall into the first category, making FON-style sharing illegal.

Plus, we believe that in public spaces and semi-public spaces, the internet should be free:

bq. On Gothamist.com, a New York City Web site, a poster named “jg” wrote, “Gross. Make Internet free.”

bq. While Spiegel and NYCwireless appreciate that FON educates the public about wireless Internet, he basically agrees.

bq. “NYCwireless has as philosophy that in public spaces, Internet should be free,” Spiegel said. “[FON has] a philosophy that you should be paying for the Internet in some way or another.”

[1]http://www.thevillager.com/villager_201/wirelesscowerealatte.html

Filed under: Interview, New York City, News, NYCwireless

March 1, 2007 • 8:46 am 0

Podcast: Community Wireless Roundtable (Dec. 4, 2006)

h2. Agenda

* Attendance
* Announcements
* First New York-Berlin Live Community Wireless Video Conference
* Examples of successful local/municipal/city motions in favor of supporting community wireless infrastructures
* Updates from Community Wireless Groups Worldwide: Pakistan Wireless Networking Session

h2. Participants

* Alison Powell, Île Sans Fil
* Dan Adelman, Director of New Media, KDHX FM 88.1 / KDHX TV 21+2
* Dana Spiegel, NYCwireless
* David Young, CUWIN
* Gabe Sawhney, Toronto Wireless
* Jonathan Arbib, Rome Wireless Community
* Kafui A. Prebbie, oneVillage Foundation
* Laura Forlano, NYCwireless
* Malcolm Matson, OPLAN
* Mike Lenczner, Île Sans Fil
* Rich MacKinnon, Austin City Wireless
* Roland, wireless Network Administrator, WISP, North Cyprus
* Sascha Meinrath, CUWiN
* Sylvia Cadena
* Tracey Lauriault ogWiFi (Ottawa Gatineau Wifi)
* Vickram Crishna
* Warren Noronha

Filed under: Community Wireless, Community Wireless Roundtable, International, NYCwireless

January 8, 2007 • 1:50 pm 0

Podcast: Community Wireless Roundtable (Jan. 8, 2007)

h2. Agenda

* Attendance
* Announcements:
** Identify yourself and your organization
** Backchannel chat log
** Recording conference call
* OPLAN Foundation
* COMMONS Project
* “Media Reform Conference”:2 (this week)
* “International Community Wireless Summit”:3 (May 2007)
* Updates from Community Wireless Groups Worldwide
** France
** Austin

h2. Participants

* Alison Powell, Île Sans Fil
* Benoit Gregoire, Île Sans Fil
* Jonathan Arbib, Rome Wireless Community
* Laura Forlano, NYCwireless
* Dana Spiegel, NYCwireless
* Malcolm Matson, OPLAN
* Mike Lenczner, Ile Sans Fils
* Rich MacKinnon, Austin City Wireless
* Michel Memeteau, France Wireless
* Andre Marais, Pretoria, South Africa
* Joy Tang, One Village Foundation

“Community Wireless Roundtable — Jan. 8, 2007″:1

[1]http://wirelesscommunity.files.wordpress.com/2006/12/queenszoo3.pngwp-content/uploads/2007/01/community_wireless_roundtable_20070108.mp3
[2]http://www.freepress.net/conference
[3]http://www.cuwireless.net/summit

Filed under: Community Wireless, Community Wireless Roundtable, International, NYCwireless

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