This paper examines the free wireless internet access movement, tracing its origins in the broader shift from wired to wireless telecommunications. It defines key wireless technologies — including Bluetooth, Wireless LAN (WLAN), WAP, and satellite systems — and explores the regulatory role of the FCC in governing spectrum use and intellectual property rights. The paper analyzes the phenomenon of "war driving," community-led WiFi initiatives, and city-wide projects such as Washington, D.C.'s Open Park Project. It also addresses the economic tensions between free access advocates and market-driven service providers, the challenges of security and legal compliance, and the prospects for closing the digital divide through publicly available wireless networks.
Since the construction of the information superhighway, its use to distribute information has become phenomenal. Information gathering and dissemination is among the most valuable assets for a business to succeed, and demands for ever more efficient means of connecting to the Internet have driven exponential technological advances. The craze to connect has gone wireless, and with this technology an entirely new set of issues, concerns, and problems has arisen. One movement associated with the wireless phenomenon is the free wireless internet access movement. Not unlike the original free internet movement — which largely became a victim of cost burdens and an inability to scale technology with growth — the free wireless movement is a demand by individuals and communities to offer a network or city-wide connectivity system that is free of charge to the wireless user.
The wireless movement encompasses many issues of telecommunication that have been widely debated since the advent of the cell phone. Many believed that cell phone access would almost instantaneously replace traditional wired phone service, though it has proven to be a more gradual process. As one early analysis predicted: "Many analysts believe that wireless could become the voice communications technology of choice — eventually becoming a substitute for existing telephone service — because it offers the added advantage of mobility. Over the next five to ten years, wireless technologies will emerge as significant competitors in most communication, information and entertainment markets" (OTA, 1995, qtd. in Regli 108).
The greatest reason why many individuals have reluctantly retained wired phone connections, or landlines, has to do with the inability of the standard user to access the internet without a hard-wired phone. Though the technology is now available for such access, the transition will again be gradual as issues of cost, legality, and security are worked out by wireless experts and the FCC.
The main obstacle in this transition has largely been cost, as standard internet connections through dial-up services are still less expensive than the wireless systems available to users. Yet as wireless cell phone companies begin to develop packages and plans — including equipment — in the same manner that traditional wire-based organizations have, and as the technology becomes more widely available, the cost issue will disappear from the radar screen and wireless will become the standard system for access.
With this wireless movement there has developed an underground effort to offer wireless access free to any individual who has the equipment to use it. Though traditional paid systems are more likely to retain the public's attention, those sincerely interested in wireless access are becoming increasingly aware of services being offered free of charge in many locations — beginning with traditional settings like coffee shops and hotels. This trend has produced the reality that regulating such services through a cost system is difficult, and that accessing open-air systems for free is virtually inevitable. It is for this reason, and for common reasons of many individuals wishing to close the technology gap between the rich and the poor, that free wireless movements have sprung up, and they are clearly growing exponentially.
One of the greatest challenges to a concrete understanding of wireless access technology is the reliance on new and varied terms associated with the industry. Wireless access technology can take one of several forms, and the form is determinant of the technology's ability to transmit information and the usable distance from antennas and repeaters. Within the research, several terms stand out as new and in need of definition; however, definitions of the actual network types must take precedence. The most substantial differences between transmission modes are the frequency ranges at which they send and receive data.
Bluetooth is a wireless personal area network (WPAN) communication system standard that allows wireless data connections to be dynamically added and removed between nearby devices. Each Bluetooth wireless network can contain up to eight active devices and is called a Piconet. Piconets can be linked to form Scatternets. The system requires one device to operate as the coordinating device (a master) and all other devices operate as slaves. This is similar to the structure of a universal serial bus (USB) system commonly used in personal computers and devices such as digital cameras. However, unlike USB connections, most Bluetooth devices can operate as either a master or slave and can reverse their roles if necessary.
The frequency range of the Bluetooth system spans from 2.4 GHz to 2.483 GHz, and the basic radio transmission packet time slot is 625 microseconds. Each radio packet contains a local area piconet ID, device ID, and logical channel identifier. The hopping sequence is normally determined by the master's Bluetooth device address. However, when a device is not under control of the master, it does not know what hopping sequence to use, so it listens for inquiries on a standard hopping sequence and then listens for pages using its own Bluetooth device address.
Bluetooth technology is not as likely to be used as a system for a free wireless access network, as the hardware required is installed in fewer PCs and laptops and more commonly in handheld and telephone systems. The exclusivity of the system makes it a more likely tool for those who wish not to offer open access, yet it could be expanded to meet the needs of a free network if users were able to obtain the technology in larger subsystem formats (Harte, 2004).
A Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) allows computers and workstations to communicate with each other using radio propagation as the transmission medium. The wireless LAN can be connected to an existing wired LAN as an extension, or can form the basis of a new network. While adaptable to both indoor and outdoor environments, wireless LANs are especially suited to indoor locations such as office buildings, manufacturing floors, hospitals, and universities.
In the 802.11b system, the basic radio channel is 25 MHz wide and the center frequency of the radio channel can be assigned to different points — called channels — in the 83 MHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) unlicensed frequency band. There can be up to three non-interfering (non-overlapping) 802.11b radio channels operating in the same ISM frequency band.
It is within this classification that most personal wireless systems fall, including the most well-known system: Wi-Fi, or Wireless Fidelity. The WLAN classification is where most free wireless access networks reside, as these networks offer the greatest return on investment and support the most users (Harte, 2004).
Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) is an industry specification that allows advanced messaging and information services to be delivered to wireless devices, independent of which wireless technology they use. A WAP server is a computer that can receive, process, and respond to an end user's request for information or information processing. A WAP push proxy gateway receives messages addressed to the WAP client, stores them until a request is made, and then allows the client to download (pull) the messages for display.
Larger networks, or those with existing LAN networks in a business or industrial setting, most often use WAP systems. Some of the newer free wireless systems have also been created using WAP systems (Harte, 2004).
Satellite systems provide a unique way to connect communications networks using space vehicles in orbit over the Earth. Satellites act as transport for communications, much like cables, fiber optics, or microwave systems. Similar to cable repeaters, satellites take weak incoming signals, restore them, and pass them back to the recipient. A satellite placed in orbit is capable of providing a communication connection between any two points within its field of view — roughly one-third of the planet's surface — simply by having a transmitter and receiver at each point. Depending on the satellite's capacity, thousands of paired connections can be established simultaneously.
One of the greatest communications advantages of a satellite is that the number of ground-based devices that can receive its signal is not limited, making satellites ideal for broadcast uses. Satellite radio systems are simple: a signal is transmitted to a satellite, which acts as a repeater and re-transmits the signal to any receiver on Earth with no limit on the number of listeners. GEO satellite systems are primarily used for television broadcast services, as their satellites appear stationary above the Earth. MEO and LEO systems are used for mobile communications, as they are located much closer to the Earth and continuously move relative to the surface.
For more than thirty years, satellites have provided voice and data communication service around the globe. In 1997, the high cost of satellite equipment and services began to decline dramatically, with new high-capacity satellites and digital technology reducing service costs and bringing equipment prices down by over 75%. Satellites have a longer history in the technology industry than other types of wireless services, and because of this dramatic recent cost reduction, free wireless subsystems may be more likely to use satellite technology in the future (Harte, 2004).
With the types of technology now explained, issues associated with legality and security can be addressed. Though the main obstacle to free wireless servers is the initial cost of the technology needed to develop and implement the systems, another substantial obstacle is legality. Laws related to technology are constantly changing, and as a general statement, laws in the United States are often focused on profit protection. It is for this reason that restrictions on free access networks have occurred. The standard government answer is that if there is a new market opened by technology, it should be recognized as just that — a market, to be guarded and accessed based on the ability to profit from it (Banks 585). Additionally, the system also prefers to ensure that interference will not occur that might cause infighting or inferior services to the user.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a government agency of the United States that establishes and enforces laws and regulations regarding interstate radio and wired communications services. The agency was established by the Communications Act of 1934. The FCC must certify — through FCC type approval — radio and computer equipment before it can be sold in the United States (Harte, 2004). The FCC has a great deal of power over the technology distributed within the United States and often presents a significant obstacle for new technology, as proof of legality, non-infringement upon other technologies, and many other factors must be determined before a product can be produced and sold.
Additionally, the FCC ensures that individuals or groups do not infringe on the rights of other users through sharing of wired and wireless telecommunications space. It also protects intellectual property rights (IPR) — the legal rights that protect the innovations or creative content proprietary to an individual, group, or company. These commonly include patent rights, copyrights, and trademarks. A blocking IPR is an intellectual property right, patent, copyright, or other proprietary right that precludes someone else from making, using, or selling that invention.
Within these functions, the FCC can make or break an organization, manufacturer, or in this case the developer of a free wireless access project. The FCC's main function is to license the use of certain radio frequencies to determine who is able to use such airspace. Its regulatory regime regarding commercial airwaves for mobile communications is relatively relaxed:
"Spectrum licenses include only limited technical specifications, and carriers are generally free to offer whatever services they wish. Licenses in the United States are also made on a smaller regional level than in other countries. Depending upon how the FCC decides to license a set of spectrum, licenses may be awarded on a national level or by Major Trading Area (MTA), Basic Trading Area (BTA), Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), Rural Service Area (RSA), Major Economic Area (MEA), or Regional Economic Area Group (REAG). This policy was selected as a means to increase competition and innovation in the telecommunications market. It has also served to fragment the mobile telecommunications market, where relatively few standards exist and customers face compatibility problems and high roaming fees." (Banks 585)
"Hobbyists mapping networks and demanding free access"
"Washington D.C. Open Park Project and similar efforts"
Yet free public internet use comes with a price. The group needed $250,000 — to be raised through donations from technology companies and private individuals — to pay for antenna installation and upkeep of the networks through 2005. Tropos Networks Inc., a San Mateo, California technology company, supplied Open Park with several antennas for the Mall project. The Capitol Hill WiFi area could host up to 100 simultaneous users on a first-come basis, with more networks to be added depending on demand ("Open Range" C08).
Several businesses and universities nationwide had already been using WiFi so employees and students could log on without being tethered to an office or desktop computer. The Open Park model drew on these precedents to argue that similar open access was both technically feasible and socially valuable. As WiFi computer users had steadily increased over the prior few years while hardware prices dropped to as little as $60, the conditions for such community networks had never been more favorable.
As changes overtake the technology, many issues will continually come to the forefront. Developers have high hopes that services will be easily accessed, and the use and availability of wireless — and especially free wireless access — will continue to grow exponentially. Technology for the individual continues to decline in cost at a rate that will continue to create developmental changes to the system. It is a noble cause to fight the historically market-only focus on profits in technology by pursuing free internet and other open services. With non-profit partnerships and public support, such systems could prove eternally promising.
You’re 67% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 2 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.