IP Democracy: Community Wi-Fi Proponents Carry Political Swack

The New York Times’ Glenn Fleishman has this piece today on how community Wi-Fi advocates are gaining grassroots skills. Despite the article’s central thrust — community Wi-Fi proponents are political forces to be reckoned with — the piece makes these public broadband proponents sound a little quaint and zany. (“His [Matt Westervelt, head of Seattle Wireless] organization raised $2,500 for a climber to place network equipment on a cellular tower on Capitol Hill, one of the highest spots in Seattle. The cost of upkeep is to be donated by a private company.)

But the heart of the piece is how wireless advocates might turn into important players in the net neutrality debate.

Wireless advocates “have done more to bring forward the concerns of network neutrality as well as open access” than anyone else in the political process, Mr. Richardson [Greg Richardson, head of muni-broadband consulting firm Civitium] said. “They have a very loud voice in an advocacy role.”

Update: As the article’s author Glenn Fleishman notes in the comment to this item, the article really focused on community Wi-Fi advocates, who, while closely aligned with the muni-Wi-Fi folks, are a different breed. I’ve changed the headline and text to more accurately reflect this distinction. Moreover, Fleishman says these local Wi-Fi proponents aren’t zany or quaint.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on January 19, 2006 12:27 AM to IP Democracy