André Lemos is Associate Professor, Faculty of Communication, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. PhD in Sociology, Sorbonne (1995), Visiting Scholar University of Alberta and McGill University, Canada (2007-2008). Coordinator of Cybercity Research Group (UFBa/CNPq) and Researcher level 1 at CNPq. Member of Prix Ars Electronica, Wi. Journal of Mobile Media and Canadian Journal of Communication Board. This Carnet is online since March 1st, 2001.
Matéria do Yahoo! News mostra que a capital da Tailândia vai oferecer conexão wi-fi de graça (a velocidades reduzidas) como forma de economizar energia elétrica. Vejam:
"The Thai capital will offer 500,000 people free Wi-Fi access starting Thursday, in a pilot project that will provide 15,000 hotspots for them to get online, Bangkok's municipal government said. The scheme is part of the city's drive to cut back on its energy use as officials hope residents will drive less if electronic communication becomes more convenient. The free service, which is set to last for one year in its initial phase, will offer only slow 64K connections designed mainly for checking email or sending text messages. 'Using information technology for communication with others rather than taking transportation will save energy in crisis period and for the future,' Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin said in a statement. (...)"
Montreal é uma ilha desplugada. E não é utopia não! Tenho tido certa facilidade para acessar a internet a partir de hotspots abertos, tanto de casa (o meu está aberto), como de cafés, restaurantes, e até da rua. Não é o paraíso já que a maioria dos hotspots que aparecem no meu computador estão fechados, mas o espectro envolve grande parte da ilha. A maioria dos cafés e alguns restaurantes oferecem o serviço de graça e alguns usuários deixam a conexão aberta.
Um projeto interessante, já reportado nesse Carnet, é o Ile Sans Fil Montréal, uma organização sem fins de lucro que estimula e ajuda a criar hotspots abertos e gratuitos pela cidade. Podem se associar estabelecimentos comerciais e pessoas comuns. Na próxima sexta feira haverá um encontro em um café e vou ver de perto a experiência. Já me conectei em vários pontos participantes do projeto (vemos um adesivo na entrada indicando o "île sans fils"). Há projetos similares já conhecidos como Seattle Wireless, NYCWireless, Paris Sans Fil, Wireless Toronto, British Columbia Wireless, entre outros.
Abaixo a descrição do projeto. Acima mapa dos pontos de conexão.
"Île Sans Fil est un organisme sans but lucratif voué au développement d'une infrastructure de communication gratuite permettant de renforcer les communautés locales de la grande région de Montréal. C'est à la fois un organisme de développement technologique et un organisme communautaire réunissant professionnels et étudiants de plusieurs horizons. Les bénévoles du projet Île Sans Fil partagent la vision qu'il est possible d'utiliser les technologies modernes de télécommunication, et en particulier les technologies sans fil, afin de contribuer à briser l'isolement des citoyens à l'échelle locale. ISF concentre présentement ses activités sur deux importants projets d'infrastructure afin de permettre à cette vision de se réaliser. Le premier est le déploiement de nombreuses bornes d'accès sans fil au réseau Internet (Hotspots) dans des endroits publics (cafés, parcs, etc.). Le second est la création d'une infrastructure de communication haute vitesse toit à toit et ouverte à tous. Nous croyons que toute l'infrastructure nécessaire pour réaliser ces projets peut être développée, financée et maintenue par et pour la communauté."
Matéria da revista The Walrus, fala de problemas como Wi-Fi e da tendência crescente para a implantação de Wi-Max ou Wi-Bro, testado em Seoul:
"Plans for municipal broadband initiatives, such as free Wi-Fi in parks, have often fizzled because coverage was expected to be spotty and service providers predicted financial losses. The new future of the wired city is wimax, or WiBro, a variation of the technology being tested in Seoul, South Korea. WiBro is cheap high-speed wireless with a range of several kilometres, and users can connect from subway stations, tunnels, and cars moving at 120 kilometres an hour. Its North American cousin is ?the be-all and end-all of wireless,? according to University of California, San Diego, computer engineer Lawrence Larson, and communications companies will be rolling it out as soon as next year."
Problemas na implementação de redes Wi-Fi em cidades americanas.
Matéria na CNN mostra que " An ambitious plan to blanket the city with wireless broadband Internet will be shelved because it is too costly and too few residents would use it, Chicago officials said Tuesday. Chicago officials say they won't go ahead with plan to blanket the 228 square mile city with wireless Internet." "We realized -- after much consideration -- that we needed to reevaluate our approach to provide universal and affordable access to high speed Internet as part of the city's broader digital inclusion efforts," Chicago's chief information officer, Hardik Bhatt, said in a statement." Segundo a matéria "About 175 U.S. cities or regions have citywide or partial systems."
Já em Houston, segundo o Houston Business Journal, apesar dos problemas enfrentados, "a city spokesman said the planned 640-square-mile network was going ahead despite internal company problems at Earthlink Inc. However, at an Aug. 29 city council meeting, Mayor Bill White said the Atlanta Internet service provider would pay a $5 million penalty for not meeting its agreement deadlines.
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