In my previous column, I discussed “BeWifi”, a new effort in Barcelona to implement shared wi-fi, where consumers could use their neighbors’ leftover bandwidth to increase their quality of service. Now, two more organizations are joining in to make Internet access easier and more available. The first is Japan. Following the success of free Wi-Fi programs in Kyoto and Fukuoka, the Japanese government is launching “Osaka Free Wi-Fi”, in which anyone in the area can access wi-fi in 30-minute intervals at no cost. The second organization is Comcast, whom is trying to persuade customers to convert their routers into wi-fi hotspots. Both cases hope to ease the task of accessing the Internet outside of the home.
City-wide free wi-fi is a dream many large tourist hot spots have been hoping to implement. Even for residents, having universal Internet access is convenient. In NYC, for example, the Department of Parks and Recreation launched a number of free wi-fi hotspots in various public parks. In Japan, both Kyoto and Fukuoka have had free Wi-Fi hotspots for a while. Now Osaka will be the latest city to join. There will be two separate programs: Osaka Free Wi-Fi and Osaka Free Wi-Fi Lite. [1] The former allows users to have limit-less free Internet that they can use in half-hour intervals. The Lite version is limited to 15 minutes, and can only be used four times a day. Both programs can be used by simply connecting to a hotspot and entering your email address. For now, the hotspots are only available in various railway stations as well as a number of popular tourist attractions and hotels. It is assumed that if the program becomes popular, the number of locations will be expanded.
In the case of Comcast’s quest for public Wi-Fi, things are a bit more controversial. Comcast’s intentions are good: they hope to offer their customers even more Wi-Fi hotspots to connect to throughout the nation. However, turning customers’ own routers into Wi-Fi hotspots has possible security implications. While it is not the same as free Wi-Fi, having a large number of hotspots makes it convenient for Comcast customers to access the Internet on the go. And Comcast is not the only company to try and fulfill this dream. Companies like Fon in Spain, Free Mobile in France, and Karma are all trying to use individuals’ personal routers to increase the number of available hotspots.
The problem comes in the form of Comcast’s “the ends justify the means” strategy of implementing their new hotspot program. It turns out Comcast has been secretly swapping out customers’ routers with new routers that have built-in hotspots. In other words, customers started offering public Wi-Fi without being told. Ronaldo Boschulte, an accountant in Maple Grove, had his malfunctioning router switched with a new one. “I didn’t know it had a hotspot […] That was pretty much a surprise.” [2] This has caused mixed reactions among Comcast customers. Of course, the hotspot feature can be turned off, but it requires logging into the router and explicitly shutting it off, something most people may not know how to do. In addition, there are concerns that the public Wi-Fi feature of the router is not separated enough from the customer’s personal Internet. This might lead to privacy and security issues.
Putting the issues aside, this is just the beginning of an effort to increase Internet availability across the world. Rather than relying on mobile data providers, users can hook up to their local Wi-Fi hotspot for free. It will take time for various cities to expand their Wi-Fi hotspot programs, but progress is steady, and the results are definitely worthwhile.
[1] http://www.osaka-info.jp/en/Wi-Fi/
[2] http://www.dailydemocrat.com/business/ci_25059667/dont-panic-but-that-public-wi-fi-comes?
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