Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Is Grand Haven, Michigan Really the First Wi-Fi City?

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 02 Aug 2004 14:12:47 -0400

Is Grand Haven, Michigan Really the First Wi-Fi City?

Will Grand Haven's Historic Claim of Being the First City-Wide WiFi
Deployment in the United States Withstand Scrutiny? Without a Doubt!!
Here's the Proof.

World history is replete with false claims. Controversies are many --
everything from "Were the Wright Brothers really first?" to "Who was
really first to invent the artificial pacemaker?"

As the Internet continues in its baby steps of evolution, completely
transforming the way we live as it goes, its path is recorded in history
with a series of firsts. For example, who sent the first email?

The answer? Computer engineer Ray Tomlinson in 1971.

Grand Haven, Michigan will go down in the history books as the first
city in the United States to offer city-wide WiFi.  Zamora, Spain was
the first city in the world to do this, but, as a result of the efforts
of Ottawa Wireless, Grand Haven wins bragging rights for the United
States.

Others may beg to differ. There are many pretenders to the throne.
Influential publications have erroneously given the trophy to several
cities that have said "We are first!" when in fact their deployments
were either vapor -- i.e. we plan to do this, we hope to do this -- or
in-process or simply not really "citywide".

You see, if your town is 10 square miles in area, and you WiFi-enable
five square blocks of your downtown, you can't really claim that you are
first.

It's a good start perhaps, but as every small child learns from the
story of the Tortoise and the Hare story, a good start isn't good
enough. You have to actually cross the finish line first, and that's
what Grand Haven, Michigan has managed to do in the citywide WiFi
coverage race.

The WiFi coverage maps tell the full story.

Here's the Grand Haven coverage map as of July 29, 2004. Note that the
entire town has WiFi access.

Here's the Half Moon Bay, California coverage map as of July 29, 2004.
Great effort, but not quite there. They've covered "five blocks of
downtown's Main Street" but is it citywide? Nope. If you live on Correas
Street, you are out of range and out of luck.

Here's the Spokane, Washington coverage map as of July 29, 2004. A big
map, isn't it? But is the coverage area as big as the city?
Unfortunately, for those who live on 4th Street, it isn't. Can they
truly claim to be citywide? I don't think so.

How about Rio Rancho, New Mexico? Here's another big map. Probably takes
a long while to download this image for the folks who live on Sultan
Street. You see there's a good chance they are still accessing the
Internet via dial-up connections because, to be sure, the Rio Rancho
deployment is not citywide.

We could do this all day. Got a city that you think beat Grand Haven to
the finish line?
Let me know and I'll debunk the claim for you. Simply give me a call at
847-549-1677. Or, cut me, the middleman, out of the picture and go
direct to the expert: Ottawa Wireless founder and CEO Tyler van
Houwelingen. You can reach Tyler directly at 616-842-2763.
Thanks for giving this a read.
All the best!
Glen
Glen Nelson
Walker Sands Communications
847-549-1677

See maps
here:http://www.walkersands.com/Was-Grand-Haven-Really-First.htm

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