[FreeGeek] Fwd: [board-list] Municipal Wireless in Vancouver (and implications for VCN)

[agent humble]

Hi folks,

This from Jim, the chair of the VCN. Interesting about City Council's support 
for a municipal wifi network (even against the recommendations of the 
consultant). FreeGeek gets a mention too!

~s

----------  Forwarded Message  ----------

Subject: [board-list] Municipal Wireless in Vancouver (and implications for 
VCN)
Date: Thursday 08 February 2007 4:22 pm
From: James Sayre <jimsayre at telus.net>
To: "board-list at vcn.bc.ca" <board-list at vcn.bc.ca>

I've finally gotten around to reading the news items Richard sent, and
it's pretty outstanding.  If they follow up, we will need to alter our
long range planning to focus our service on areas not covered by the new
wireless network, and on providing help for people to take advantage of
it.

I posted the report from city staff to the Council on Jan. 30th.  It was
pretty vague and unenthusiastic about providing internet access to
non-profits and to the low income people.  However, when the report was
considered last Thursday, the city council went way beyond the staff's
recommendations and really committed itself to providing access to the
"information highway" for low income people and non-profit groups.

It sounds like the plan will be to provide a lower bandwidth and/or ad
supported service to anyone, with a higher speed and possibly ad-free
service available for those who are willing to pay for it.  It would be
just too cumbersome, and demeaning, to force individuals to apply for
free service by proving that they're poor.  Non-profit groups will
probably have access to the high speed service without charge.  That's
somewhat similar to our current dial-up modem service structure, where
there's a separate phone number and bank of modems for community groups,
while individuals have to compete for the other lines and are subject to
a daily time limit.

The implications of such a municipal network go way beyond just allowing
people with laptops to use the internet having to buy coffee at
Starbucks.  See especially p. 3-4 of the staff's report for some of the
other possible uses of a wireless network, including surveillance,
enforcement and egovernment.  Any such network also creates inherent
privacy concerns - big ones since anyone using the network will be much
more of a target than people using a modem or broadband connection.  See
p. 11-12 for a brief discussion about some of the privacy issues.

The formation of FreeGeek is very timely, since its services are ideal
for helping low income families take advantage of the new network.

What will this all mean for VCN?  Well, if the City and its private
partner(s) are going to provide free basic access, we can devote our
energies to other things, and/or other people who don't live in the free
wireless region.  All of the discussion so far has been about wireless
access in Vancouver.  It's likely that people in the other lower
mainland municipalities are going to demand similar services, but I
can't see how a network of access points could affordably be set up to
cover sprawling suburban areas like Surrey, Delta, Langley, etc. unless
the technology changes.  VCN will still be needed for those residents.

One planning question we should address fairly soon is whether we should
seek to play a major role in the administration of the Vancouver
network.  We could campaign to become the gatekeeper for low income
people and non-profit groups, but that would take up a lot of our time
and energy, and expose us to criticism if our servers go down and we
can't authenticate users who want to connect to the wireless network.
Unless there is a special advantage for people in having VCN play this
role, such as our strong commitment to defending users' privacy, maybe
we should stay out of it except as a policy stakeholder.

Anyhow, this should put to rest any thoughts of immediately spending a
lot of time, money and energy on developing local Vancouver hotspots or
mesh networks, since they'll be obsolete as soon as the new network is
established.  But there's still the rest of the lower mainland, and for
that matter the rest of BC.  Today Vancouver, tomorrow the world....
(just kidding)

Jim


Here's one account of the Vancouver Council's decision:

------------------------------------------------------------------------


Vancouver Sun - Friday, February 02, 2007 (page B-1)

headline:  City wants WiFi network by 2010
sub-head: City seeks private-sector partner for $10-million venture

Randy Shore

VANCOUVER - The City of Vancouver is seeking a private-sector partner to
install and operate a wireless communications network that could provide
free wireless Internet WiFi access to the entire city. The network will
require about 2,000 antennae, many of which will be installed on city
buildings and infrastructure such as lamp standards and will cost about
$10 million to fully implement in time for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

The scheme, approved by council Thursday, is intended to provide
high-speed Internet access, a communications platform for security and
emergency services *and free limited Internet service to people on low
incomes*.

About $500,000 to be spent on feasibility studies and technical
consultants will be added to the 2007 capital plan. The money is to be
recovered from the company that secures the contract to build the network.

*In approving the motion councillors were clear the system should
maximize benefits to the non-profit sector and to people who might not
otherwise have access to wireless services. Free or low-cost wireless
Internet service for the city and community building applications of the
network were among the stated goals of a council motion passed last year.

"We can see P3 models used all over the world that provide free
networking that all the non-profits can then use," said Coun. Heather
Deal. She was particularly intrigued by the educational and cultural
opportunities provided by a network that gives access to information and
communication by anyone, anywhere in the city.

Museums, art galleries and institutions like Telus World of Science
could use WiFi to guide people through interactive installations in
parks or anywhere in the city, Deal said.  "We don't want a system that
is only accessible to those who pay into it," Deal said. "I think free
access is a very attractive opportunity."*

Free access to electronic communications has a powerful democratizing
influence, too, she said. "In the U.K., they are doing online petitions
and they go directly to the politicians," Deal said. "That is proving
extremely popular."

Several U.S. cities are either offering or implementing WiFi systems
with free service, according to a city report to council. Vail, Colo.,
offers a free lower-speed service subsidized by paid high-speed
customers, a model also being considered by San Francisco. Most of the
systems that offer free service defray costs through premium paid
services or advertising targeted at free service users.

Deal admitted that free users might be exposed to advertising under such
a system and although she is not completely comfortable with the idea,
she is ready to consider the tradeoff.

Industry representatives were unanimous in their support for council's
initiative. Eight people spoke to council Thursday.

"What council approved in principle today were the perceived benefits of
a [public-private partnership], and those benefits are the widest
coverage and the most likelihood of creating the best city possible in
terms of competitiveness and innovation. It also has the highest
probability of not costing the taxpayers money," said Judy Bishop, a
market strategist for the BC technology industry. "The P3 model gives
the city the ability to provide the widest possible benefits."

Staff will report back to council on the logistics of the P3 before
proceeding to consultation with the community and public organizations
like TransLink, Vancouver Coastal Health, Terasen and BC Hydro, any or
all of which could become anchor tenants of the system.

"Each city develops a model that works for its unique circumstances,
based on its geographic, social and technology requirements," said
acting director of technology Shari Wallace. "What it looks like will be
based on what makes our city unique."

The city is likely to be an anchor tenant, using the network to reduce
the $1.6 million it spends annually on emergency communications for
police and fire departments, computer and digital assistant access for
workers in the field, Blackberrys and cellular phones.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will use a wireless network as the
backbone of its anti-terror security and emergency communications
system.  City staff will explore potential security application for the
2010 Games in its consultation with the federal government.

rshore at png.canwest.com          © The Vancouver Sun 2007



--
--

Please send or copy all email to jimsayre at telus.net.

--
Community Legal Assistance Society
Per:  James Sayre
Suite 300, 1140 West Pender Street
Vancouver, B.C.  V6E 4G1
Tel: 604 685-3425 (68-LEGAL)
Fax: 604 685-7611
Toll Free BC: 1-888-685-6222
E-Mail Address: jimsayre at telus.net
Alternate Email: jsayre at clasbc.net or jfsayre at vcn.bc.ca

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