The World Wide Web throughout the city? What should we call it?  The “Citywide Web”, according the Long Beach Business Journal?

Five companies are currently bidding to create a citywide wireless network.  This could mean a lot of changes from Internet cafes to how Verizon and Charter price their Internet access fees.  This project should gove residents a low- or no-cost access to the Internet.  They are hoping such a project would attract new businesses into the city. Having Long Beach known as a tech-savvy city could certainly reap great rewards, especially by giving free wireless “hot zones” along business corridors.  How will it be funded, is another question.

As proposed network would give residentshigh-speed Internet access for a fee half of the current DSL or cable rate or a free advertising-supported access. As long as no public funds are to be used for construction, this not only sounds good but is very feasable.  Here is where we need to be careful in project as these, when selecting a private provider it have to lease  public properties to place access points, which would give the city a good source of income.  The danger to avoid is to have a single private Internet provider who would place itself as the sole provider and stranglehold the city, as we have seen on the cable and DSL market.  No competition means prices haven’t lowered, nor innovations have taken place.

Downtown, the Airport and Shoreline Village are already planned for.  This should be interesting for us.  One thing I am still not completely clear on are the long-term effects of the transmission of signals.  There have been a ot of studies on that matter but no one can tell exactly what the harm would be by being bombarded constantly with signal waves.

Here is the Long Beach Business Journal article.