Get Smart about Business SpendingAs the city of Anaheim, Calif., unveils the largest municipal Wi-Fi project in the United States, residents of Tempe, Ariz., debate the merits of their own city's broadband project, one of the first of its kind. Police and fire departments are big fans, but there are still a lot of issues that need to be worked out.
News Stories
EarthLink christens its first citywide Wi-Fi
Will company's strategy of building wireless networks in U.S. cities fill a void left by exiting dial-up users?
June 29, 2006
Wi-Fi lessons learned in Tempe
The Arizona city has had its ups and downs with its ambitious municipal
broadband project.
June 29, 2006
Tempe Wi-Fi: Firefighters, police are fans
The Arizona city's police and fire departments are big on a citywide broadband network.
June 29, 2006
Anaheim opens Wi-Fi network
With the cut of a ceremonial cable, this Los Angeles suburb joins the growing list of cities with a citywide wireless Internet network.
June 29, 2006
Senate moves to ease municipal Wi-Fi
Senators trying to prevent state governments from enacting laws to curb wireless projects.
June 29, 2006
Baltimore proposes 'inclusive' Wi-Fi plan
Similar to an effort in Philadelphia, Baltimore's draft plan focuses on bringing Internet to low-income families.
June 28, 2006
Related Features
Municipal broadband and wireless projects map
Government-sponsored projects to provide fiber-optic or wireless networks are taking
off across the U.S.
April 25, 2005
Previous Coverage
Free Wi-Fi in S.F. more than flipping a switch
San Francisco, with its steep hills and urban valleys, will be a challenge
to EarthLink and Google's ambitious project.
Video: Ups and downs of San
Francisco
May 5, 2006
Cities deploying Wi-Fi face challenges
Cities already offering Wi-Fi service to residents struggle in the early
days to meet users' bandwidth and reliability expectations.
May 1, 2006
Chicago next on the broadband wagon
blog City officials hope to
blanket the city's 228 square miles with wireless broadband, following the
likes of Philadelphia, San Francisco and New York.
February 18, 2006
Senators can't agree on municipal broadband rules
Amid multiple proposals, politicians can't agree on whether municipalities
offering broadband service should be applauded.
February 14, 2006
Wi-Fi run by cities: Yea or nay?
As cities consider building broadband networks, a debate continues over
whether it's a good use of taxpayer dollars.
January 6, 2006
A look at Tempe, Ariz., the first large U.S. city to provide Wi-Fi access for all its residents.
Are the residents of Tempe, Ariz., ready to trade in their cable lines for the new citywide Wi-Fi?
CNET News.com's Amanda Termen talks with Tempe police officers about how they use their municipal Wi-Fi system.
How Tempe, Ariz., fire and emergency services use the municipal Wi-Fi network to deal with crises.
Google, EarthLink partner in a project to bring universal Wi-Fi to San Francisco. Here, a view of the city that's on its way to being wireless.
Tempe, Ariz., has installed a border-to-border wireless network, but it's not without some wrinkles.
Tell us what you think about citywide wireless broadband efforts.
Authors: Amanda Termen, Marguerite Reardon, Declan McCullagh, Anne Broache, Caroline McCarthy
Editors: Jim Kerstetter, Desiree Everts, Richard Defendorf
Design: Ellen Ng
Production: Daniel Judd
To have a city wide wireless service available, either free or paid, would put that city on the map for tourists, technophilia people, and attract more people to move there. I wish that Edmonton would roll this out here, but I know that'll be awhile before that happens. There are pockets here and there, but I wish I lived in a city that offered this service.