Pittsburgh downtown Wi-Fi hotzone goes live . . . finally

The on-again-off-again Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership project to unwire downtown Pittsburgh has finally reached completion: the network is live! It is operated by US Wireless Online and free and paid outdoor Internet access packages for outdoor access in the Central Business District/Golden Triangle, and the growing areas of North Shore and Lower Hill District. Tropos Networks provided the outdoor mesh nodes.

AirCell to Launch in 2008

AirCell said today that it expected to launch its service in 2008: A few weeks ago, they were saying late 2007. The firm said that it is finally approaching the receipt of its formal FCC license, sometime in the next 30 days. They repeated their earlier expectation that they will be able to use regulatory harmony and partnerships in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean to launch throughout those countries and region shortly after their US launch.

Wi-Fi Alliance + CTIA

The Wi-Fi Alliance announced officially it is working with CTIA - The Wireless Association on joint testing documents that ensure mobile technologies like GSM, CDMA, EV-DO and more work seamlessly with Wi-Fi (especially since more and more products are converging Wi-Fi with these technologies).

Google Deploys GigaBeam With Tropos

GigaBeam and Tropos jointly announced today that GigaBeam has become a preferred solution partner of Tropos and that both have successfully installed portions of the municipal WiFi network in Mountain View, CA, with GigaBeam installing WiFiber(R) wireless fiber for the backhaul, and Tropos installing its MetroMesh(TM) WiFi product for the WiFi mesh.

Basestation Conference

The "Dallas Basestation Conference" in November will highlight three key wireless themes: Network Evolution, Technology Evolution and Service Evolution. Presenters will include Navini Networks, Tropos Networks, Sprint Nextel, Vodafone, Nokia, Ericsson and Nortel -- and standards such as HSDPA and EV-DO will be on tap as well.

Tropos Networks Introduces Comprehensive Global Distribution Channel Partnerships

Tropos Networks introduced a comprehensive worldwide distribution strategy for the world's most widely deployed Wi-Fi mesh technology, Tropos MetroMesh. Effective immediately, Tropos products are available to authorized resellers and integration partners worldwide through the following distribution partners: Alliance Corporation and ScanSource Security Distribution (serving North America), Wireless Tech Asia Pacific (serving APAC), AI Solutions (serving Latin America), and IT Way (serving Europe).

Valleywide WiFi would keep area on cutting edge, but project faces hurdles

Mike Langberg, as he highlights why Wireless Silicon Valley and Metro Connect have the best shots of succeeding in metro Wi-Fi, cites the nation's cell phone companies -- especially Cingular, Verizon Wireless and Sprint -- as aggressive competitors selling their own wireless data networks. "Today, those networks aren't as fast as WiFi and are more expensive, although they do offer coverage inside buildings where WiFi often doesn't reach. A new generation of cell networks, no more than a year or two away, could close the gap. There are also well-funded companies planning nationwide high-speed wireless networks using new technologies such as WiMax." It sounds as if he believes WiMAX isn't connected to either Wi-Fi or cellular data plans.

Can Our Cities Cope with Crisis?

The chief technology officer for the City of New Orleans said on-the-fly Wi-Fi systems after hurricane Katrina "gave the us the means to overcome the barriers built into our old communications system. In short, they gave us a vital lifeline that facilitated the beginning of the city's recovery."

Providence unveils mesh network

Providence, R.I., this week launched a $2.3 million mesh network initially aimed at public safety.The network will let police, firefighters and other emergency employees file reports from the field and access information such as suspect profiles, mug shots and building blueprints. The city obtained funding for the network through grants from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services program. Motorola is deploying the mesh network with Scientel Wireless as its systems integration subcontractor.

TV-Over-WiMAX

At the upcoming IBC 2006 show, NDS (Nasdaq: NNDS), a PayTV software maker based in UK will demo a TV-over-WIMAX system in partnership with Intel and Modern Times Group%u2019s Viasat Broadcasting, a leading digital satellite pay-TV broadcaster in the Nordic countries. They will show that WiMAX TV software from NDS will be able to deliver content over WiMAX to personal Consumer Electronic (CE) devices such as laptop computers and other handheld devices.

Pitching Broadband For First Responders

Discovery News explores the revamping of the nation's first responder communications system, and two national broadband networks being proposed by Verizon Wireless, and a company named Cyren Call. Cyren Call, which announced its proposal last April, is trying to persuade Congress and the FCC not to auction the slices of spectrum, but to put them into a public trust. They propose that the trust then hire a company like Cyren Call to manage it. They envision a network could be up and running by 2009.

September Update of Wireless Cities and Counties

The number of planned deployments has gone up from 34 to 135. Here are the figures from 10 September 2006:
-- city or countywide wireless broadband networks in operation for public access and municipal use (68);
-- city hotzones (43);
-- city- or county networks for municipal use only (35);
-- planned deployments, e.g. where an RFI or RFP has been issued or where a network is being deployed (135);
-- cities and counties that are seriously considering wide-area networks (25).

The total of (1) to (4) above is 281 (up from 247 in June 2006). If you add (1) through (5), you come up with 306 cities and counties (up from 264 in June 2006) with running networks, ongoing deployments, RFPs or RFIs, and serious plans to deploy such networks. The number of municipal-only wireless networks has not increased because most cities and regions want multiple-use networks.