Municipal Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is becoming a more and more popular way for people to
access the internet in public. This is especially the case
in larger cities where one can connect to the internet
through a Wi-Fi service offered by commercial
establishments and in public areas.

But lately, another entity has also begun providing
wireless internet access to people which is the local
government.

This broadband service brought by an area’s local
government is popularly known as municipal Wi-Fi. The local
government may shoulder the service fully or partially,
depending on the set-up that they choose.

For services fully-operated by the city government or the
municipality, they use taxpayers’ money to build the
infrastructure to build a citywide wireless network. Or
they could also provide this service for a minimal fee to
the consumers.

Meanwhile, governments can also outsource this and avail of
the services of a private company. The company will be
responsible for building the infrastructure as well as its
maintenance.

The good thing about local governments providing wireless
internet access is that it enables everyone with the right
tools (e.g. a Wi-Fi enabled laptop or PDA) to get to the
internet for free. Aside from that, the government itself
can use this service in connecting the computers of their
offices wirelessly.

However, this can also spell bad news to other broadband
providers because giving out internet access for free is
something that they cannot afford. Also, this kind of
set-up discourages the same providers from partnering with
local governments because of its lack of a clear source of
income.