A new survey by JiWire has placed San Francisco and New York as two of the top 10 global cities with hotspots. San Francisco currently has 801 hotspots and New York has 643. The rest of the top 10 is as follows:

Top 10 Cities

1. Seoul--2,056
2. Tokyo--1,802
3. London--1,627
4. Paris--895
5. San Francisco--801
6. Daegu--787
7. New York--643
8. Singapore--619
9. Busan--617
10. Hong Kong--605

Because of the continued delaying of certification of at least 30 WiMax-enabled products by Spain's Cetecom Labs, many analysts say WiMax is in danger of falling increasingly behind WiFi. In addition, with more citywide wireless initiatives popping up across the country, most if not all are turning to WiFi technology to provide wide range access to users.

Obviously, WiMax supporters want to make sure their products do what they're supposed to do, but they may eventually have to be deployed overseas to prove their worth before finally finding a place in the U.S. Of course, the pending field trials will certainly tell a huge part of the story.

Cities all across the state of Wisconsin are increasingly ramping up wireless network access. Milwaukee and Madison are now in the throes of developing citywide networks, and now Green Bay is seeking to join the party.

As of now, most of the WiFi access in and around the area is limited to the standard coffee shops and other establishments, but the state is seeing more agreements between cities that will allow users to log on from either their own home area or someplace nearby, all for one fee.

It kind of warms the heart when the Cheeseheads are now joining the wireless revolution, doesn't it?

If you've ever driven through Rhode Island on Interstate Route 95, you'll know that you can pass through the state in a little over an hour (especially for those of us who have a heavy right foot!).

In any case, it looks like the long-in-the-works Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks (RI-WINs) initiative may finally get underway in the form of a pilot phase next month. According to officials, the network will be aimed at govermental employees, especially first responders, as well as private companies who employ a number of mobile workers. Example applications include dash cameras to report information back to agency headquarters, real-time access to law enforcement databases, distance learning, and home health care monitoring.

What excites those involved with the project is that because Rhode Island is so small, it really can be classified as a statewide municipal wireless network. In addition, operating costs are projected to be around $5 million a year for the whole state, and annual revenue is projected to be over $6 million, to be gained through access fees from private users.

This certainly seems like a win-win for the Rhode Island. Obviously, the pilot program will tell us a lot more about usage and access, but the wireless signs seem to be pointing up for the Ocean State.

The book describes how the initiative made its way through the system and features interviews with some of the major players involved with the effort. It also aims to serve as a guide for other municipalities to leverage when considering citywide wireless networks.

I've put in a request to Hudson House for a review copy and hope to have a positive response from them very soon. If I can get my hands on the book, I will post a review as soon as possible.

As if EarthLink didn't have a big enough jump on the competition to build and deploy citywide wireless networks, they've announced an agreement with Motorola who will provide equipment and services for the cities where EarthLink has begun setting up networks, including Philadelphia and Anaheim.

According to the agreement, Motorola will install network equipment from their suppliers, as well as their own products, on city light poles to form a wireless mesh to allow access from just about anywhere within a given location.

Obviously, this is a big deal because EarthLink can certainly submit proposals for future projects knowing that they have a powerhouse like Motorola behind them so that equipment questions can be answered quickly. Of course, there may be more agreements like this coming down the pike to give competitors a chance, so we'll see what happens.

It seems the capital city of Taiwan, Taipei, is well on its way to become the largest city in the world to have a citywide wireless network. Managed by a private company under the aegis of the city government, the network features over 3,000 access points to cover half of the city's 106 square miles for its 2.6 million residents. According to city officials, the project will cover 90% of the city by the middle of this year.

The story also mentions that the network will succeed because nearly 9 in 10 Taipei households have at least one PC and over a third of the population is familiar with wireless Internet service. As a result, there's no need for a large learning curve and users will be able to take immediate advantage of the network. As with many U.S. citywide networks, there has been pushback from the phone companies who have lobbied city and state governments to keep these initiatives from getting off the ground. But just like anywhere else, the demand is just too great to keep down.

Interesting story in the New York Times by Glenn Fleishmann about community wireless networking groups who get together to place antennas anywhere possible to create a wireless cloud. And, of course, make wireless access available for free to anyone who wants it.

As we well know, the big cities are enlisting big companies to build citywide networks, and with their combined economical and technological power, it's pretty much a given that these small collectives would be pushed aside. However, the point is that these massive citywide projects wouldn't have even gotten off the ground without groups like NYCwireless or Seattle Wireless making it possible for friends and neighbors to get wireless access from each other and having the concept grow from there.

The city of Boston is currently deploying a public wireless netowrk (Boston Main Streets WiFi) available in four commercial districts--Hyde Park; Roslindale; Washington Gateway, and West Roxbury. In partnership with three network providers (Airpath Wireless, Ascio Wireless, and Colubris Networks), the network is funded through a combination of donations and advertising revenue.

It seems like a nice idea, but what about the rest of Boston. Where will these people and businesses be able to access a broader network? The initiative does have some expansion plans, but may not be enough to cover the entire city. We'll have to keep tabs on this project to see how it will address the other parts of Boston.

The movement to deploy municipal wireless networks is underway in cities of all sizes, and now the city of Corvallis, Oregon is only the latest community to take steps toward going wireless. At this juncture, the city is looking at various ways to upgrade their limited wireless networks currently used by police officers and other first responders. With that in mind, the has signed a memorandum of understanding with Intel to explore their citywide network options. In addition, there are plans to issue a RFP by late winter/early spring.

So far, it seems Corvallis city officials are looking at three scenarios:

• A city-owned network that would charge users for access.
• A privately-built network that would be used by city agencies and residents.
• A partnership wherby Corvallis would partner with another party to share operating and maintenance costs.

Since Corvallis is not a large metropolis, it is expected that the second and third choices would be the ones to focus on, but with the growing number of networks being built and deployed across the country, it could be that costs could go down as volume goes up. Time will certainly tell in this case.

Looks like the city of beer, cheese, and the Brewers, Milwaukee, is about to go wireless. The city has reached an agreement with Midwest Fiber Networks to develop and deploy the citywide network at a cost of roughly $20 million dollars with a launch date of mid-2008. No taxpayer money will be used to build the network, however users will be expected to pay monthly fee (about $20) to access the service. A city council committee is expected to ratify the deal within the next couple of days.

Just as mostly everyone else is doing these days, Milwaukee's intention in building this network is to attract business. Will it do so? Who knows for sure, but it certainly can't hurt.

Supporters of the 802.11n WiFi standard which, according to them, will "breathe new life" into the wireless networking technology, got some good news this week when the Enhanced Wireless Consortium passed a joint proposal by a 40-0 vote. Their proposal will now go in front of the IEEE at its meeting next week.

It is believed that 802.11n WiFi is estimated to be nearly five times faster than 802.11g, and up to 50 times faster than 802.11b. It would make sense that those municipalities looking to deploy a citywide wireless network pay particular attention to this development, although the standard won't be ratified until (most likely) the end of this year.

The growth of WiFi access may soon spread to supermarkets with the announcement by the Stop & Shop chain that it will be deploying free WiFi access throughout their chain of stores in the Northeast. The company has contracted with ICOA Inc. to manage the store networks. So as you navigate your way through the fruit and vegetable section, you'll be able to surf the web. Look for other supermarket chains to join in the fray very soon.

City council members in Salem, Oregon will be investigating the possibility of developing and deploying a citywide wireless network accessible to residents of the community. Like most other municipalities that are considering the wireless route, they will be choosing a private firm to build the network and will allow that company to receive cash or access to city property to install the necessary equipment. Plans call for users to pay daily and/or monthly fees as well as investigating ways where low-income users can access the network.

As is the case with most of these citywide wireless networks, Salem is hoping that their network will attract business and workers to their community.