The other Twin City considers a muni network: Minneapolis already has already gone to the semi-finals in bidders to create a fiber/wireless network across its side of the river; now St. Paul considers its own Wi-Fi buildout. The city owns its own utility poles, which makes it easier for them to franchise, they say, than Minneapolis. The first step is a study.
Taipei claims first city in the world to achieve even current level of Wi-Fi coverage: The network is still being built, the Wall St. Journal reports, but it should hit 90-percent completion by summer. The network already includes 3,300 access points and covers half of the 106 square miles of the city. They offered free access during early build out and now charge about US$12 per month for service. The Journal reports that about 6,000 out of 60,000 registered users have opted to pay, and the question is whether there will be enough uptake to justify the investment by winning bidder Q-ware Systems, which has born all the risk.