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View Full Version : Swindon to give all residents free wireless internet service



t0p
November 19th, 2009, 11:15 PM
Has anyone seen this (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/nov/17/swindon-free-wireless-internet-access)? Swindon Borough Council are going to set up a "wi-fi mesh" that will give blanket coverage to the whole town - for free! No line rental or connection fees, and a "limited" data allowance for every user.

I think it's amazing. Okay, it's a "limited serice", but apparently it'll cover light email and web browsing, and there will be service upgrades on sale.

Unfortunately I don't live in Swindon. But I hope it goes well, as that would encourage other local authorities to do something similar.

koshatnik
November 19th, 2009, 11:16 PM
Great idea. Would be ideal for cafe browsing on a lappy. Nice one.

NoaHall
November 19th, 2009, 11:17 PM
I saw that ages ago. There was also a plan for the entire UK, but the people behind it said it would cost too much.

blueshiftoverwatch
November 19th, 2009, 11:23 PM
Not to turn this into a political debate, but where do you think the government is getting the money to pay for this "free" service from?

dragos240
November 19th, 2009, 11:28 PM
I'd love to have that in my town.

LowSky
November 19th, 2009, 11:29 PM
This might work in a small town, But not in cities like London or New York. There is just too many people and too many problems to tackle.

In my Area the local cable company is giving free wifi to customers who already buy high speed internet. Its a great service if your near the town center you can go to a cafe or even a fast food place and get internet access. Really helpful if you have a wifi capable phone and 3G service is lacking.

Greg
November 19th, 2009, 11:30 PM
This might work in a small town, But not in cities like London or New York. There is just too many people and too many problems to tackle.

In my Area the local cable company is giving free wifi to customers who already buy high speed internet. Its a great service if your near the town center you can go to a cafe or even a fast food place and get internet access. Really helpful if you have a wifi capable phone and 3G service is lacking.

Optimum?

ice60
November 19th, 2009, 11:34 PM
probably David Brent had something to do with it lol

SuperSonic4
November 19th, 2009, 11:37 PM
Has anyone seen this (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/nov/17/swindon-free-wireless-internet-access)? Swindon Borough Council are going to set up a "wi-fi mesh" that will give blanket coverage to the whole town - for free! No line rental or connection fees, and a "limited" data allowance for every user.

I think it's amazing. Okay, it's a "limited serice", but apparently it'll cover light email and web browsing, and there will be service upgrades on sale.

Unfortunately I don't live in Swindon. But I hope it goes well, as that would encourage other local authorities to do something similar.

Would you want to check your email on a (probably) unencrypted wireless network?

ugm6hr
November 19th, 2009, 11:40 PM
Not to turn this into a political debate, but where do you think the government is getting the money to pay for this "free" service from?

It looks like it's a commercial venture, although the council is a shareholder in the company behind it.


It is hoped the scheme will break into profit with residents subscribing to faster, paid-for access, above the free service.

I think this is interesting:

The mesh also has the potential to provide free internet phone-calls. The council says this could be used by health professionals to carry out consultations and remote medical procedures or examinations through Telemedicine – a form of interactive online healthcare).

Not sure Swindon is necessarily the most rural place to see significant benefits from telemedicine, but it would be fairly pioneering for the UK NHS.

EDIT: I presume it will be secure if they foresee telemedicine application use...

ice60
November 19th, 2009, 11:46 PM
Would you want to check your email on a (probably) unencrypted wireless network?

you can use gmail https or force an encrypted connection with something like TOR on a wireless network. not that i ever do either of them.

edit: all wireless LANs are unencrypted. unless i'm not thinking of something?

t0p
November 20th, 2009, 01:19 AM
Not to turn this into a political debate, but where do you think the government is getting the money to pay for this "free" service from?

According to the Guardian article I linked to:



The borough council worked with a local businessman, Rikki Hunt, who came up with the concept, and the digital technology firm aQovia to create a new company – Digital City UK.
Under the brand name Signal, it will roll out the technology throughout the town.


Apparently the project will cost £1 million to set up. The cost of this will be split between the council and its partners. It's hoped that Digital City UK will later turn a profit when it starts selling service upgrades to the people of Swindon.



Would you want to check your email on a (probably) unencrypted wireless network?

I imagine it will be encrypted. Each user is going to have a limited service with options to upgrade; so there'll have to be some kind of login system, which necessarily entails security and (probably) encryption. And anyway, there are ways to encrypt your traffic, like htpps (not the best security, but it's a start) and vpn/proxy tunnel thingies. I think it'd be a good idea to school the people of Swindon about security issues.

This is (possibly) a first in the UK, but I'm sure this kind of thing has been done in other countries, so there'll be experience for Swindon to learn from. And it'll be a nice testing ground for when similar services are introduced in other towns.

dullard
November 20th, 2009, 01:47 AM
Great idea!

...but oh! Hang on... http://tinyurl.com/yzlphhh


Every phone call, text message, email and website visit made by private citizens is to be stored for a year and will be available for monitoring by government bodies.

No wonder some parties are trying to give it away, what with ISPs generally not liking some of the legislation already in existence.

[/tinfoilhat?]