I'm a big believer in the concept of MuniWIFi, but not "homeless wireless" so there's no way I couldn't draw attention to Katie's excellent post about the lack of uptake in muni-wireless build-outs.
The fact is most of these networks are built to serve only a residence a homeless person would love. Something outside. In building coverage is something that requires additonal hardware in most places. What's more, if you look at some of the coverage maps you'll readily see that the noble concept of wiping out the digital divide by putting bandwidth into low income quadrants seems to be the norm. That's great if the $100 computer was out en masse, but its not.
High rent housing districts, heavy concentration of office space and student housing areas where credit cards are the most plentiful are where I'd like to see more operators go, otherwise Katie's post becomes to, to accurate.
Can you spell Metricom all over again? I sure can.
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