A rather interesting article on Grand Haven's wi-fi network:
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/3460341
By Gerry Blackwell
One of the most exciting ideas in Wi-Fi is the notion of blanket
wireless coverage for entire cities. Everywhere you go in the burg you
can get a connection for Internet access or voice over IP
(VoIP). Businesses and home owners can subscribe to a fixed service,
and also get mobile access when they're out and about. Visitors and
others can subscribe to a hotspot-like service. It's wireless utopia.
Numerous projects are underway around the world that promise to
ultimately provide city-wide coverage, but Ottawa Wireless, a start-up
in out-of-the-way Grand Haven, Michigan, claims to have the only
actual city-wide Wi-Fi system in operation: Grand Haven, population
12,000.
The city, which spreads out over about 6.2 square miles, is no booming
metropolis, but the company had to start somewhere. Now it's moving up
the food chain. Its next deployment, recently announced, will be in
Rio Rancho, New Mexico, a city of about 63,000 and 72 square
miles. Another unannounced New Mexico city is in the pipeline; It has
a population of 75,000.
"And we're deep in a conversation with a city of over 300,000," says
Ottawa Wireless CEO and co-founder Tyler van Houwelingen. "It becomes
a different challenge when you get into that kind of urban
environment, though. There's a lot more interference. So much of the
engineering goes into avoiding interference, even in cities where we
are now."
Ottawa Wireless, named after the county in Michigan where Grand Haven
is located (no relation to the Canadian capital), has an interesting
history. The expat founders started in Spain two years ago with a
company called Azulstar, developing technology strategies, server
software and antenna systems to provide mobile broadband services,
including VoIP.
[Jack Decker Comment: I have to pick one small nit here: If I'm not
mistaken, both Ottawa County and Ottawa, Ontario were named after the
Ottawa Indians that inhabited this part of North America.]
Full story at:
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/3460341
How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home:
http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html
If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/
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