Metropolitan Wi-Fi Services

In some metropolitan areas, a large number of interconnected Wi-Fi base
stations are being installed by either local government agencies or private
businesses to provide wireless service throughout an entire region or in
selected neighborhoods as an economical alternative to cable and telephone
(DSL) services. The base stations for these services are often mounted on
utility poles or rooftops.
These same networks might also provide a variety of special data services
to the local government and major subscribers. For example, the local natural
gas, electric, and water utilities could add small Wi-Fi adapters to their meters
and use the system to send readings once a month. And city buses might
have transponders that report their locations to a central tracking system,
like the one in Seattle at http://busview.org/busview_launch.jsp, as shown in
Figure 2-8.
It’s not yet clear whether these city-wide Wi-Fi services will be able to
overcome possible interference problems and competition from other
wireless data alternatives, or whether they will attract enough business to
remain viable. But if they do, any computer within the coverage area that
has a Wi-Fi adapter should detect the signal and have access to a broadband
Internet connection.



Figure 2-8: Wireless technology tracks city buses in Seattle and
reports locations on a website.