Muni Wi-Fi

Municipal wi-fi is still on the urban horizon here in the states; Minneapolis is gearing up for a city-wide system. Finland, already one of the world's most wired countries, is jumping right over the city-based systems and going straight to "a wireless wideband network to cover the whole country." Under construction by a domestic data-infrastructure company and Siemens, the network will start to come online next July in the heavily-populated south and in the sparsely-populated far north.

Would that American city, state, and national government agencies could get their IT butts in gear for something similar here. Urban wi-fi islands aren't going to help places like Northfield keep pace with the rest of the world.

(Cross-posted to Blowing & Drifting.)