Simply put, municipal Wi-Fi networks should be seen as a standard municipal service. Big infrastructure projects of the past connected cities, facilitating economic activity and made them liveable and attractive. Communication and internet infrastructure at the local level should be viewed in the same way. 5. Introduction ‘Five Weeks Nine Cities’ The main objective of this study tour was to undertake overseas research on municipal Wi-Fi networks and survey what models best suit Victorian local government. After much preliminary research and many conversations with a range of experts in wireless networks and technologies both in and overseas, medium to small cities were selected which were comparable to Darebin and similar Victorian councils. These are cities where municipal Wi-Fi networks have proven to be most successful. As a result the study focused on nine medium-sized cities (see below) across North America, Europe and , which were visited in May 2010. Auckland New Zealand – Ponca United States – Anderson United States – Albany United States – Fredericton Canada – Swindon United Kingdom – Leiden Netherlands – Rotterdam Netherlands – Oulu Finland – Each of these cities has gained a solid reputation in the provision of Wi-Fi service to its residents and some have even received international recognition as ‘smart of the 21st century. cities” 6. Background What is a municipal wireless network? Municipal wireless network is a way of turning an entire city into a wireless access zone with the ultimate goal of making wireless access to the internet a universal service. Councils often take a phased approach, starting with one or a few sectors of a city to demonstrate competence before making the larger investment of
Simply put, municipal Wi-Fi networks should be seen as a standard municipal service. Big infrastructure projects of the past connected cities, facilitating economic activity and made them liveable and attractive. Communication and internet infrastructure at the local level should be viewed in the same way. 5. Introduction ‘Five Weeks Nine Cities’ The main objective of this study tour was to undertake overseas research on municipal Wi-Fi networks and survey what models best suit Victorian local government. After much preliminary research and many conversations with a range of experts in wireless networks and technologies both in and overseas, medium to small cities were selected which were comparable to Darebin and similar Victorian councils. These are cities where municipal Wi-Fi networks have proven to be most successful. As a result the study focused on nine medium-sized cities (see below) across North America, Europe and , which were visited in May 2010. Auckland – New Zealand Ponca – United States Anderson – United States Albany – United States Fredericton – Canada Swindon – United Kingdom Leiden – Netherlands Rotterdam – Netherlands Oulu – Finland Each of these cities has gained a solid reputation in the provision of Wi-Fi service to its residents and some have even received international recognition as ‘smart cities” of the 21st century. 6. Background What is a municipal wireless network? Municipal wireless network is a way of turning an entire city into a wireless access zone with the ultimate goal of making wireless access to the internet a universal service. Councils often take a phased approach, starting with one or a few sectors of a city to demonstrate competence before making the larger investment of
Fellowship-report-2010-Municipal-WiFi-Networks-by-Gaetano-Greco.docx