The NSW Government's plans to deliver a free wireless network trial for Sydney will be delayed due to complexities in sourcing a suitable network provider.
Sydney-siders and residents of the greater metropolitan area will have to wait for the promised free network because of the "diversity and complexity of responses" to the NSW Government's tender for a wireless network provider.
A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Commerce said "it is taking longer than anticipated" to evaluate the expressions of interest.
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The NSW government's plans are being made in consultation with the City of Sydney Council.
"We've had a role to play in the evaluation process, so we'd be informed if anything was going ahead because we're participating," a spokesperson for the Council told ZDNet Australia.
"There's an indication with all of these sorts of projects that we'd like to start as soon as possible, but at this stage we're still waiting for the word from the Department of Commerce," said the Council's spokesperson.
The delay follows reports that the now Channel 7 controlled wireless network provider, Unwired is a leading candidate to supply the CBD network.
The government expects to make an announcement about the selection of a network provider soon, said the spokesperson for the NSW Department of Commerce.
1
NathanaelB - 18/11/07
Government-funded free wifi is not the only solution available!
Everyone can contribute to creating free wireless internet from grassroots level by sharing their private internet connections and opening up wifi access points to allow anyone to use them.
The preferable solution though is to use low-cost mesh network technology such as that manufactured by Meraki which can sit on-top of your private wifi network and interconnect with other Meraki repeater nodes to create city-wide blanket wifi access. For free!
Don't wait for the Government ... you can do something about it now. I am, as are people I know in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
Google "Free Sydney Wireless", "Free Canberra Wireless", mesh networks, Meraki, freethenet.
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2
rudolf - 10/12/07
who takes up the bandwidth/ ISP cost for the free network?
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