ATHENS, Ga.-The majority of Wi-Fi systems springing up across the United States were created to enhance the communities being served rather than to generate revenues, according to recent research from the New Media Institute and the Mobile Media Consortium at the University of Georgia.
For their report, the groups defined a Wi-Fi zone as an aggregated group of cooperating hot spots that share a management system and allow users to log in with a single username and password. A Wi-Fi cloud offers continuous coverage over a city or town’s geographic area. A zone might be a Wi-Fi enabled convention center, whereas a cloud would be a Wi-Fi enabled metro area.
The group’s study found 60 percent of all Wi-Fi clouds and 25 percent of all Wi-Fi zones were developed to provide broadband capabilities. Meanwhile, 43 percent of zones and 26 percent of clouds were created to stimulate economic development. Finally, 23 percent of clouds and 31 percent of zones were formed to promote the community. Interestingly, only 21 percent of clouds and none of the zones said wireless was implemented for public safety.
“As clouds and zones spring up all over the world, municipal leaders and technologists are collaborating to explore how this powerful new technology can make their communities stronger,” according to the report. “One of the most exciting aspects of this study is the sheer volume of wireless clouds in the U.S. that are available to the public.”
