A Disorderly Infrastructure

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How does a Wi-Fi network become ubiquitous? Where will the ever-pervasive wireless infrastructure come from? To understand how Wi-Fi could blanket the earth, consider an interesting quote that comes from Alessandro Ovi, the technology adviser to European Commission president Romano Prodi. He recently uttered a perfect, profoundly beautiful, description of Wi-Fi's capabilities. "These are water lilies; little ovals of connectivity that are not centrally deployed, that sometimes overlap a little, whose stems lead to the Internet usually through a broadband connection. If you happen to be near one of these water lilies, depending on how the access point is configured, you might get an Internet connection."

However, there are diverse ideas about who should pay for these pretty "lilies" and how they should work. The companies that tried initially to build proprietary wireless systems across the U.S. have bitten the dust, but other companies, such as Cometa, Boingo, and T-Mobile, are stepping into the breach. These companies are building a network of HotSpots—small local venues where anyone who can ante up a small fee can use their Wi-Fi-equipped mobile computing device to access the HotSpots' Wi-Fi network for a bit of high-speed Internet surfing.

Some businesses (and individuals) install Wi-Fi networks so they can offer free wireless networking to their customers and/or the public-at-large. Still others install what they believe is a private network, but inadvertently let their network spill over their property lines. Thereby making access "available" to those within their proximity. There are even generous individuals who have started building their own "lilies" (wireless networks) so that other people can use them. These networks are oft-times referred to as "FreeSpots" or "community" networks. And in order to link all of these "free" networks together, individuals have begun to map these "lilies of connectivity" so that folks can locate and access them.

History teaches us many different ways that infrastructures can begin, and grassroots movements have a long history in advancing technological innovations (e.g. the telephone, the PC, and the Internet)—which often are "disorderly." So in Mr. Ovi's words, "Let these water lilies grow for a while longer... It could be beautiful."

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