While cities like Mountain View, San Jose (USA), and Brussels (Belgium) are still working on plans for wireless Internet coverage, Taipei has accomplished this goal quite early.
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| Source: Wifly |
American wireless networking company JiWire conducted a comprehensive assessment of the Wi-Fi infrastructure in Taipei and confirmed that the email system, security measures, and other basic Internet services here meet quality standards. JiWire reported that most customers are satisfied with the new service, even though Taipei is still using the older WLAN 802.11b standard.
The capital of Taiwan currently has over 4,000 access points (hotspots), providing connectivity for 90% of its 2.6 million residents. The two main service providers are Chunghwa Telecom and Q-ware Systems. Several other organizations also support Wi-Fi in cafes, tea houses, and kiosks.
Taipei’s Wi-Fi network was established to address traffic congestion. Citizens can access data, forms, and other administrative tasks, reducing the need to drive to offices.
To undergo the independent assessment by JiWire, Taipei enlisted multinational support, including collaboration with Hewlett-Packard and Intel.
Meanwhile, in Spain, a company named Fon is selling Wi-Fi router devices for just $5. Fon is backed by Google and Skype to create wireless Internet networks on every street in Europe and the USA.
Juergen Urbanski, Director of Fon, stated that they aim to establish 50,000 access points worldwide by September, then 150,000 hotspots by the end of 2006, and one million points by the end of 2007. So far, over 54,000 people have registered as members (Foneros) of Fon, an increase from 3,000 in February.
The affordable router allows individuals to quickly set up a hotspot using Fon’s software. To own the router, users must commit to sharing their wireless connection with other Fon members for 12 months.
However, Fon is also facing some technical and legal hurdles. The existing Wi-Fi networks have limited coverage, so the company needs to attract a large number of Foneros to create an extensive public access network. Internet service providers are also reluctant for customers to share their broadband connections with others. Urbanski mentioned that they are in negotiations with several major service providers in the USA.
