Ocean City paints grand vision of future, starting next summer: Ocean City, NJ, swells by tens of thousands of people each summer, and they want wireless networks to help them manage hordes and improve life. Those heading to the beach would wear electronic wristbands showing they'd paid instead of "those plastic or cloth scourges of the Jersey Shore." Badges are $5 per, $10 per week, and $20 per summer, and the city spent $282,000 last summer for badge checking personnel.

While indoor access may be a problem with Wi-Fi networks, wide-open beaches should be a relative breeze. The network would combine Wi-Fi for public access and backhaul, and RFID for the wrist tags. That combination could allow lost children to be easily found, too. The city wants its garbage cans to send email when they're nearly full, too, using solar-powered sensors and transceivers; an admirable goal.

The city is accepting proposals for a firm that wants to bear the expense of building the network. Because of the vast numbers of vacationers, it's extremely likely that there's a very high uptake on public access use of the network, not least of which will come from among the potentially 10m-plus iPhone owners, and from the millions or tens of millions of owners of Wi-Fi-enabled organizers, portable game systems, and cameras in the market and due to hit in the coming year.

The consultant Jonathan Baltuch, advising the city on the plan, estimates $26m in revenue ($14m for the city, $12m for the network operator) over five years between user fees and advertising. Baltuch helped launch St. Cloud, Flor.'s free citywide network. (That network is in jeopardy due to a change in Florida property taxing authority.)