Brighton's WiMax service/ Techworld

Could Brighton's WiMax service end the municipal Wi-Fi debate?
Council does better for residents by meeting its own IT needs

Peter Judge |Techworld.com | July 01, 05

Brighton has a pre-WiMax network that carries both commercial and public sector traffic. With public investment, and clear benefits, it may be the catalyst to clarify attitudes to public sector wireless networking.

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This is a more scalable model than the publicly-funded free hotspots in Islington and Bristol (and the mesh in Philadelphia). Already, one free public Wi-Fi scheme in Orlando Florida, has shut down, citing high costs and low usage.

It may be that the best way for councils to get access to citizens, is to focus their IT budgets on meeting their own needs, through commercial projects like the Brighton metranet, which create spin-off that reaches local businesses and residents.

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