Universal WiFi coming to Houston!

[WestHoustonDem]

http://www.houstondemocrats.com/archives/2006/05/digitalhouston.html

<snip>Tonight, I participated in a 30-minute conference call with Houston area bloggers and Mayor Bill White to discuss upcoming plans for citywide WiFi. Bids are due tomorrow for a 10 year plan to provide the infrastructure on city property to cover 640 square miles with WiFi service.

From the invitation from Mustafa Tameez:
“Information and communications technologies are as important for the 21st century as were roads, sewer, gas and water systems for earlier growth and progress. Robust, competitive and affordable communications are critical for the city to attract and retain jobs, improve the quality of education, enhance the delivery of healthcare services, and protect and serve residents.”</snip>

more at http://www.houstondemocrats.com/archives/2006/05/digitalhouston.html

[muse]

1. Wow! You covered everything!

I participated in this call, also. Mayor White sure shows a lot of leadership. When asked "why government for this project?", he gave the good answer - "because government is the backbone of progress".

There will be no tax dollars for this project. Funding will come from private sectors. Like WHD says, what the city will provide are places for approximately 18,000 access nodes on city property such as electrical and traffic utilities.

He kept making his points about bridging the digital divide and providing more access to the internet. I underlined in my notes that in his closing remarks, he talked about how there will be disagreements about how to implement this, but that if we believe this is important, we have to give voice to the vision for the initiative.