Interesting news from the Big Apple, with CBS working with the MTA on a 20-city-block hotzone: The free, ad-supported Wi-Fi network includes a variety of news content. It covers Times Square to Central Park South between 6th and 8th avenues. The Wi-Fi nodes are placed on CBS Outdoor billboards and on Metropolitan Transit Authority "urban panels," which I assume are some kind of advertising vehicle, located above subway station entrances. CBS will also distribute routers to extend the network to provide better indoor coverage, which is unique in my experience for hotzone networks.
The press release is full of bluster and hype, with a CBS Mobile exec calling this "what may be the most advanced wireless and pre-WiMax outdoor offering of it's [sic] kind in the U.S." Now, I don't know that this is the most advanced offering, and it's certainly not pre-WiMax. But it's definitely an interesting project, and one that could benefit commuters and businesspeople in a dense part of the city where people are likely to have handheld Wi-Fi devices.
The release also talks about hyperlocal content, but then lists "local and national news, sports highlights," and other items that have nothing to do with the 20-block area in question. There is a feature to find nearby commerce: restaurants, shops, and entertainment.
The urban panels are just digital signage above subway entrances. I believe that they were the "Urban Display Network" before being bought by Viacom. If my recollection is correct, they receive their content updates via EV-DO connections. It will be interesting to see if they rebroadcast that.
No signal evident @ the corner of 7th Avenue and 42nd street today, nor anybody accessing a laptop on the street on this rainy Manhattan afternoon.
Another pilot program.
It's the area where Verizon had the highest density of payphone hotspots for their pilot program. They had a hotspot on every corner of 8th Av. between 47th and 57th Streets. I tested them all for Nancy Gohring in March of 2005.
I'll try to find one of the CBS hotspots this week-end.
Klaus Ernst
Craig,
SSID wasnt broadcasted until late on the 15th due to waiting for the official PR. 7th and 42nd is a great spot. Look for the Ultimate Fighting Championship BB and you will see the local radio for that area.