What the WAGZone can tell Chicago (Atlanta, Philadelphia, whoever).

Municipal WiFi is imploding. Chicago has abandoned its wireless effort. Philadelphia is having trouble getting theirs going. Earthlink has just gutted its municipal wireless division. So lately I have been getting an interesting question. With so much burning wreckage on the wireless information highway, why is the WAGZone cruising along? The WAGZone is different – and the differences make all the difference.
What is the WAGZone? The Wireless Athens Georgia Zone (WAGZone) is our WiFi system in Athens, Georgia covering most of the downtown business district. In 2003 when the NMI built the WAGZone, Intel proclaimed it the first municipal wireless system. Hey, who are we to argue. But being the first isn’t what really sets the WAGZone apart.
First of all, it is free to the user . And that is about the only price that all users are willing to pay. But it costs to build and run the WAGZone. The $80K to buy the equipment came from a research grant from the Georgia Research Alliance. The minimal $250 monthly technical maintenance is picked up by the NMI. The backhaul (the connection to the internet) worth about $500 month is provided by a progressive local internet service provider, NEGIA (http://www.negia.net) as a community service. And the Athens Clarke County Unified Government provides the government ladder trucks and personnel to keep the 6 devices mounted throughout downtown operational. So it costs a lot to make the WAGZone free.
Second, the WAGZone loses money. Now here comes the math. If something costs you and you are giving it away, that’s right, it loses money. We built the WAGZone as an experiment. We wanted to test ideas about mobile content. At the time, there was no place to do that so we built our own research test-bed. We have had some great results, including a patent on our system. Providing community connectivity was just a fringe benefit that came along with the package.
Third, the WAGZone isn’t a business. For those of you economically inclined, I didn’t have to say that, did I? Sure, businesses are involved. NEGIA is a crucial partner – the WAGZone wouldn’t work without them. But the visibility NEGIA gets from being the bandwidth sponsor isn’t really enough to justify their expense. If they didn’t care about Athens it wouldn’t be worth their time.
Fourth, the WAGZone isn’t government. Yes, the government helps. But we aren’t spending tax dollars to keep the WAGZone running. I live in this community. I believe in spending tax dollars for parks, public transportation, and streetlights. Proven amenities that make Athens a better place. As much as I love the WAGZone, I believe Athens-Clarke County Unified Government should spend its precious money on other things right now.
And, finally, the WAGZone isn’t forever. Experiments end. Technology changes. 3G (third generation) systems are coming that offer the transmission speeds that are truly competitive with WiFi. Verizon’s EV-DO will soon offer download speeds of up to 4Mbps. AT&T is rolling out HSDPA/UMTS to more and more markets with comparable speeds. OK, OK acronym overload. But the bottom line is that other commercial providers are offering robust high-speed options. Of course the bad news is, you have to pay.
So the WAGZone survives because it is artificial. It is a fragile thing that can only exist in a community like Athens with a reputation for exploration and a system (a large university) that can support experimentation. Hey, college towns are known for propping up things that can’t survive anywhere else – innocence, optimism, idealism, hope. The WAGZone can make it in this Classic City Petri dish, but life outside the lab is harsh.
The struggling municipal wireless initiatives are a strange amalgam. Systems that want to be free (at least partially) yet make a profit using government resources. They are mashups that only Frankenstein could love – and you know how that affair ended.
So we have lived the WAGZone now for over four years and here is the big lesson. The future of municipal wireless belongs to the businesses who know how to build truly sustainable systems and are willing to take the speculative risk involved in shifting technology. Government and community groups have an important role to play in helping those businesses find ways to serve the community while making a profit – and holding them accountable when they don’t. Building systems to compete with companies (who pay taxes, remember) isn’t a way to deliver options to consumers. It is just a good way to waste money.

Good Reasons to attend iDMAa Conference – 11/8 – 11/10, Philly

I have told you before about the International Digital Media and Arts Association (iDMAa, http://www.idmaa.org/). It is my favorite conference – and one of the few I still attend. Why? Because you have an opportunity to talk with creative people using technology in innovative ways right now. You don’t just sit through boring 10-minute presentations about research at least a year old. The 5th Annual iDMAa Conference is going to be held in Phildadelphia November 8 – 10th (http://www.idmaa.org/idmaa2007/). You have until Wednesday (9/12) to submit an abstract. I am going to be there. Here are 10 other good reasons for you to attend.

• #10 -- No other conference gives you and your students better bang for the buck, including top session leaders and speakers from around the world and across the field, a gala reception and both faculty and student digital art exhibitions, an area campus visit, dinner, lunch and…..;
• #9 -- A paid ticket to visit over 100 digital media examples at the fabulous Constitution Center one block from the conference;
• #8-- A truly dynamic international exposure to digital media issues and applications from European campus life to media and film applications in a leading studio/academy in India;
• #7 -- A stellar pre conference day on content, where to get it and how to make it pay, November 7;
• #6 -- Interactive and demonstration oriented sessions with Avid, Autodesk, AOL, and others;
• #5 -- An evening at F.U.E.L. the incredible former bank turned gallery for the iDEAS art exhibition, followed by a post production party.
• #4 -- The premiere of three public service commercials alerting young people on HIV/AIDS issues done live on Philly streets that day by student production teams using cell phones and wireless technology (courtesy of the University of Georgia and Verizon);
• #3 -- Get a free copy of the updated “Digital Media Programs in the USA” study;
• #2 --Network with the best in the field; and,
• #1 -- Be part of a truly interactive conference where you spend time sharing ideas and participating, not just going from one session to another listening and not participating.

This DBB (Tu, 9/11, 12:30P) – University Cablevision – George Veeder

I remember when we only used TV in classrooms when there was a space shot (Apollo was my favorite because we got to miss English four times – talk about a giant leap!). Now television is playing an increasing role in all university missions. Our guest at this weeks Digital Brown Bag (Tu, 9/11, 12:30, NMI Conference Room, 412 Journalism Bldg.) is George Veeder of the Office for Instructional Development. George heads up the University Cable operations and he is going to tell us about some of the cool technologies he is starting to use in his job – and SlingBox is one of them! Join us.

WTF Event (9/11, ATL) – Global Smartphone Lifestyle

Tuesday (9/11/07) evening the Wireless Technology Forum is holding an event entitled “Special Event – Creating a Smartphone Lifestyle across the Globe.” It includes exhibits, keynotes, and a panel discussion. Best of all it is FREE (thanks to Symbian sponsorship)! Find more at http://tinyurl.com/28au9j. And I'll be moderating -- scary, eh?

WUOG Looking for New Media People – 9/10

Here is a message from Sarah Colombo (scolombo1@gmail.com):
Hey! Just getting started at UGA? Been here awhile but want to get more involved? Come find out more about UGA's student run radio station, WUOG 90.5FM <http://www.wuog.org/>. There are tons of ways to get involved, including news, sports, talk shows, promotions, public affairs, digital archiving, and music. We will be having an open meeting for all interested students on September 10th at 6pm in the Tate Reception Hall.