Just back from a trip to Kraków (Poland), I am struck by how limited is access to WiFi in Europe. In Kraków, I could sit in the main square (the largest open mediaeval space in Europe, they say), and connect with ease to the city's wireless broadband system. But not in the towns we stayed in en route in Germany, the Czech republic, Belgium ... The only other place where I had easy access was Antwerp. Now comes news of a major initiative ... in England:
Bristol is deploying the largest public access WiFi hotzone in the UK as part of its Bristol Legible City initiative. The network will also give council and city workers access to private networks (VPNs) in the area of coverage and provide wireless connectivity for CCTV (allowing the city to move cameras around easily for street events and general security surveillance).The network, which consists of wireless access points located on a range of street furniture including both Cityspace i+ kiosks and city lampposts, will initially cover three square miles. WiFi coverage already exists from outside Council House on Park Street, down to College Green, St Augustine's Parade and parts of the Watershed.
This report comes via Esme Vos' firm's (Lemon Cloud, Amsterdam) excellent Muniwireless.com. Esme Vos, an intellectual property lawyer, didn't have such a great WiFi time in Antwerp recently, using SwissCom. Cory Doctorow has sharp words to say about them, too.
