Morgan: [scoffs] That’s wishful thinking if ever I heard it.
Julian Osborne: I’m not against wishful thinking. Not now.
– On the Beach
A new municipal wireless network now serves citizens and visitors of the Gangneung City and Gyeongpo Beach areas, the second largest tourist beach in Korea.
Deployed by Korea’s largest service provider, KT Corporation, the “Gangneung U-Blue City” (Ubiquitous Blue City) project uses technology from Firetide to enable both a city-wide sensor network for emergency preparedness and free Internet access for tourists.
“Bringing the beach online provides an added incentive for city visitors who can use the network to learn about the city and its many attractions. Having access to the data gathered from video cameras and weather sensors also helps Gangneung be more proactive in ensuring the safety of its citizens,” said Hyung-Kuen Ryu, project manager of KT Future Technology Laboratory’s Next Generation Internet Research Division.
“Introducing Firetide’s mesh-based network for emergency preparedness along the coastline was the most feasible solution, especially considering the time and money involved in deploying an equivalent wired network.”
The beach installation includes 21 Firetide HotPort mesh nodes and 8 HotPoint access points. Unfortunately, the towers (right), do nothing to add to the attractiveness of the beach.
Altogether, the network, which took five months to complete, comprises one large Ubiquitous Sensor Network (USN) using IPv6 that provides city residents and visitors with quick and reliable access to online sports, weather, disaster prevention and other information.
In related news, Prestonsburg Kentucky, provided free Wi-Fi along a 2-mile corridor running through its downtown core. The entire system, including 48 outdoor and 12 indoor routers cost Prestonsburg about $5,300. An additional $2,700 paid for three DSL connections with two years worth of service.
Prestonsburg uses equipment from Meraki, the Mountain View, Calif., startup that offers a plug-and-play Wi-Fi mesh network solution. Merakis automatically self-configure and connect with adjoining units.
Outdoor Meraki routers (specs) cost $100-$200 and cover a radius of about 500 feet, with their single 200 mW radios. That’s been enough range to provide a signal along the 2-mile corridor, plus a few outlying locations, such as a local park and an arts center.
The administrator can use the dashboard to enter text messages, which appear in a bar at the top of the screen while a user is on the network. Some operators sell ads in that space to help support the service. Currently Prestonsburg isn’t selling ads in the messaging bar, and since it’s not charging for the service, the network isn’t producing revenue. The city may sell ads in the future, says Govtech.
For simplified installation, substitute the DSL connections for Mobile WiMAX. I’d like to “unwire” Portland’s 2-mile Alberta street using that approach. I bet it could be done in a weekend for $5K.
Ad revenue of $200/month might cover operating costs. With $500/month in ad revenue, the entire system could be paid for in 18 months.
Power is in the grass roots. Just add beer and PowerPoint.
Handy for backup communications, too.
