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bournemouth

Oct 4, 2007, 9:44 AM

Post #1 of 7 (426 views)

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Ciudad Obregon goes wireless

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This news item is on the front page of Mexconnect right now - it sounds like a great idea - imagine what benefits could occur if the idea is spread to other parts of Mexico

http://www.stockhouse.ca/...C&newsid=6140858

(This post was edited by Rolly on Oct 4, 2007, 10:11 AM)

johanson / Moderator

Oct 4, 2007, 5:35 PM

Post #2 of 7 (408 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] Ciudad Obregon goes wireless

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I think it's a great idea. We have had WiFi here in Ajijic since about 2001.

bournemouth

Oct 4, 2007, 7:25 PM

Post #3 of 7 (401 views)

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Re: [johanson] Ciudad Obregon goes wireless

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Pete - there is a difference here. This is a municipal/university scheme to provide wi-fi for a large proportion of the population - not just going down and parking your car in front of Lagunet Net and clinging on to their signal.

RickS

Oct 8, 2007, 7:11 PM

Post #4 of 7 (371 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] Ciudad Obregon goes wireless

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Yes, Pete, this is a whole 'nuther' kettle of fish....

I saw this when bournemouth posted it, but am just now reading the article. This is amazing stuff, folks, assuming Cuidad Obregon pulls it off. Some US cities have tried and have walked away from it (Chicago comes to mind). There may be some others out there somewhere who have it up and running past a pilot project, but they is few and far between. Austin Tx last year started a pilot project at their convention center and I believe it is continuing to grow. My hometown, Fort Collins Co, turned up a downtown-only pilot this summer (private company w/City assistance) and it is going well. But this is confined to about a 10 square block coverage area, not an entire city of 435,000.

But this Obregon thing is well past either of these projects in its scope. They are talking about doing much of the city's 23 square miles with a wireless mesh implementation (same as the US projects). The are looking at a December implementation of at least part of it. Some is already in operation. The University there is heavily involved which is great.

So my hat's off to Obregon and the participants. I'm sending this article to the City of Fort Collins (I was the IT Director there for many years before retirement). Maybe then some of them will stop asking me, when we talk about my travels in Mexico, something like "do they actually have roads down there?!?

(This post was edited by RickS on Oct 8, 2007, 7:15 PM)

johanson / Moderator

Oct 8, 2007, 7:53 PM

Post #5 of 7 (365 views)

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Re: [RickS] Ciudad Obregon goes wireless

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Cool. What a great project. One day when I have time, I would like to learn more about this. Sadly or happily, I'm not sure which I have very little free time because I am taking an active part in the remodeling of my old house here in Ajijic.

rodc

Oct 9, 2007, 5:08 AM

Post #6 of 7 (356 views)

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Re: [RickS] Ciudad Obregon goes wireless

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Yes the free projects have been around for as long as I can remember , the concepts are great but the costs are also,
below is an interesting article on this concept and why free WiFi has failed in the past and its mostly the same issues
that are equivalent stepping stones for Isp's.

The bottom line is the last mile carrier.

In the U.S its AT&T Comcast and Sprint , here in Mexico its Telmex these last mile carriers are also the culprits in keeping Internet slower than in other parts of the world in fact the U.S download speeds are on average in the world towards the bottom of the list with an average speed of 4.8 meg download which is slower compared to Canadas 7.6 meg download but now take these comparisons next to Japans 61 meg or Koreas 45 meg download speeds but unfortunately these will continues as long as these behemoth Telco carriers continue their strongholds and of course the governments continue to let them.

http://www.slate.com/id/2174858/

here is an article published about different Internet speeds around the world
http://arstechnica.com/...n-us-is-1-9mbps.html

Rod

(This post was edited by Rolly on Oct 9, 2007, 6:17 AM)

RickS

Oct 9, 2007, 7:54 AM

Post #7 of 7 (346 views)

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Re: [rodc] Ciudad Obregon goes wireless

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Thanks, Rod, for the link to that recent article. It summarizes the (sad) state of true high-speed broadband in the US and how once-promising stories of municipal wireless mesh projects have one by one fallen by the wayside. We can only hope that the Obregon project somehow has a different fate.