In July of last year, Sen. Ensign, who is a member of the Republican High Tech Task Force, introduced the "Broadband Investment and Consumer Choice Act," which, if passed, would also make it more difficult for cities to build wireless networks. (For more, see "The Federal Picture" on Page 52.) And who is behind these state and federal legislative efforts? The telecom and cable giants, according to a report from the American Public Power Association (APPA), a national trade group for the country’s community-owned electric power utilities.

"At the state level, there are telecom and cable companies lobbying for bills that would create barriers to community Wi-Fi or broadband services," says Desmarie Waterhouse, government relations representative for the APPA. "In other cases, these types of restrictions are being pushed by third parties with close ties to these companies." BellSouth, for example, has been fighting hard against Lafayette’s plan, she says.

Some analysts say that the big providers needn’t worry about losing business from consumers who now rely on high-speed broadband from a telecom or cable company. These more affluent consumers won’t be tempted to switch to a city-sponsored service that would most likely be slower. "The fact is that cities going after Wi-Fi shouldn’t be threatening to the telcos," says Ellen Daley, Forrester Research analyst.

Some high-powered legislators agree. In response to the anti-Wi-Fi bills, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), have recently introduced legislation that would allow cities and towns to offer broadband if they decide to. Those involved in the fight think there will be some sort of compromise between the two sides, but some, acknowledge that municipalities face a stiff challenge. "Chances are that business interests will be heard," says San Francisco’s Vein.

Whither Wi-Fi?

Municipal Wi-Fi critics also argue that cities and towns won’t be prepared to deal with the technological challenges they might face as they move forward with Wi-Fi. These challenges include maintaining the networks, dealing with crowded networks and monitoring an evolving technology that may soon be replaced by other types of wireless broadband. "Wireless infrastructure is changing rapidly," Balhoff says. "Cities will have a hard time keeping up with capacity requirements."

Daley agrees that mesh technology, in particular, has yet to be tested in high-capacity Wi-Fi networks. "Cities are playing with an unknown," she says. "If a lot of people jump on an unlicensed band at once, the service will get pretty slow." In San Francisco, Vein says the biggest challenges he faces on a technical level are whether to go with existing Wi-Fi (802.11) technology or wait for WiMax, a newer technology that has yet to be proven on a large scale but has certain technical advantages over Wi-Fi and should permit usage over greater distances. San Francisco also has a "topography problem," Vein says, which means that the city’s hills and peaks could make it difficult to cover all 49 square miles.