Free Wifi Coming to Bloomingdale
Photo by flick user niallkennedy
Cities have toyed with the idea of installing free wireless internet access as a way to bridge the digital divide. During the dot-com era, techno-evangelists fretted that the lack of internet access would further marginalize the poor in an increasingly digital world. Inexpensive wifi promises to close the gap by broadcasting free internet access at short ranges.
Over in Bloomingdale a plan has been brewing for several years to install a series of wifi antennae to broadcast internet to residents for free. Interestingly, the District’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) recently revealed that the city has indeed already installed wifi hotspots on the Mall. OCTO is partnering with Bloomingdale to bring the Bridge, as the program is called, to fruition.
The aptly named Bridge is expected to seep into parts of LeDroit Park and Eckington, too. Have a look at the proposed coverage map.
View The Bridge – Bloomingdale’s Free Wifi in a larger map
Completely absurd idea.
Completely Fantastic Idea
If it allows me to pay less to Comcast on my monthly bill, why not! ;-)
I wonder if bandwidth usage would be capped per IP address; netflix on demand, torrent files etc. use a ton of bandwidth and would really slow things down depending on how robust the proposed system will be…
exactly conor. this is an absurd thing for the city to operate (or our taxes to pay for).
Great idea to make it available to neighbors who are on the other side of the digital divide. Hopefully it will be a big enough push to get them to get a entry-level device because there is a lot of governmental and non-profit stuff on line.
My parents in Florida just got on-line and I hope it will open up opportunities to make some extra money with croceting and home crafts outside of Mom’s immediate circle of people too cheap to properly pay her for her skills.
This free wifi needs to be coupled with training and mentoring.
Great idea to make it available to neighbors who are on the other side of the digital divide. Hopefully it will be a big enough push to get them to get a entry-level device because there is a lot of governmental and non-profit stuff on line.My parents in Florida just got on-line and I hope it will open up opportunities to make some extra money with croceting and home crafts outside of Mom’s immediate circle of people too cheap to properly pay her for her skills.This free wifi needs to be coupled with training and mentoring.
+1
What Eric said. Sales tax on my cable bill goes to pay for someone else’s internet connection, unfair much?
@Steve look at your landline, the universal connectivity fee has been there since the 30’s. Slightly difference (affordable (not free) service to rural areas) but the precedent has been around for a while
does the library not have internet?
this is one of those things that sounds like a great idea when encapsulated in a soundbite like Mari’s above, but falls apart when implemented. I give it a good 1% chance of success for over 6 months. just off the top of my head I can think of many reasons, such as lack of maintenance, oversubscription by people misusing it to download huge files, illegal uses like pirating movies, target populations lacking the necessary equipment and knowledge to get connected to the wi-fi, etc.
if you have a limited set of resources that you want to invest in helping lower income people improve their life situations, would you really want to invest in an open wi-fi network and supplying/maintaining computers in their homes? Compared to the alternatives like putting computer labs in libraries?
I’m sorry but this makes zero sense.
free disturbs the conservatives cockles a bit too much. we have free streetlights. free streets. in some neighborhoods free parking. free sidewalks. free police. free firefighters. scary stuff.
just heard that tax forms won’t be mailed anymore. guess they’ll be available online.