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Online Journalism News

Wire-free down under

Posted: 23/10/03 By: Jemima Kiss
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The Australian city of Adelaide has become the first city in the world with a complete city-wide Wi-fi network.

Wi-fi - the term used to describe wireless broadband internet access - allows anyone working from a laptop fitted with a Wi-fi card to connect to the internet.

Many restaurants, offices and business centres around the world now provide a wireless internet connection, some of which are free, but the service is usually limited to an area within range of an access point, typically around 100 metres.

The CitiLAN network has been set up by a consortium of public and private organisations in Adelaide, providing a comprehensive network of 40 access points across the central business district. The project is being extended to cover the whole city, including residential areas.

Adelaide has a population of one million and is home to three universities, as well as several major technology firms including Hewlett Packard and Motorola. Federal and local government invested $5.75m dollars in the project and are keen to attract more hi-tech business.

A spokesperson for news site ABC Online in Adelaide said that the network would need to be even more extensive to really benefit the city’s journalists.

"The technology is still in its infancy, and as most reporters work in the city centre it is just as convenient to drop back to the office.

"And if we’re reporting from the bush, we need to file by mobile phone."

As well as allowing journalists to research, write and file from location, Wi-fi access offers exciting possibilities for news delivery.

One project being tested on the new network is Virtual Tourist - a service delivered on a personal digital assistant (PDA) that provides context-specific web-based information about the city using maps, audio, video and text information. The same platform offers exciting potential for PDA-based mobile news services.

Launched on 17 September, the CitiLAN service will be free to use until the end of October 2003.

See also:
http://www.citilan.com.au
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story725.html
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story691.html
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/1579061
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7302275%255E15306,00.html