If you happen to live in Swindon, it won’t be long until your need for broadband diminishes greatly. As recently reported by consumer assistance website Broadband Choices, the entire town of Swindon will soon be covered by a wall to wall blanket of Wi-Fi. This will be made possible by use of 1400 secure access points each with a range designed to overlap points nearby.
Similar networks have been created successfully by private institutions such as universities so as to allow students constant Internet access. Funding for the Swindon network will be provided by those who opt for special features from the network of additional charges. The basic preliminary broadband comparison seems to show that even with purchase of the optional speed and download upgrades, pricing for broadband in Swindon will at most be half the cost of broadband from commercial providers. The obvious hope is that such government involvement will force the private sector to reevaluate and reestablish the pricing positions.
When we compare broadband pricing as found on Broadband Choices and study quite a few broadband reviews on the website, we can easily see how the commercial broadband industry can compete with free mass Wi-Fi coverage simply by offering broadband in conjunction with other desirable products such as home phone service and television channels.
Another point made obvious by the informative article on citywide Wi-Fi is that larger cities will need to wait until systems such as WiMax that offer more distant coverage are developed before they in turn can turn their city into a virtual hot spot.