At the Forefront of the Wireless Revolution

Believe it or not, the cutting edge of the global wireless broadband revolution lies in a sparsely populated rural section of northeast Oregon. Here, in a geographical area six times larger than the city of Seattle, a 600-square-mile Wi-Fi “cloud” provides free, high-speed internet access to residents in four counties, spanning two states, and covering fourteen towns—at speeds up to 10 times faster than a normal T1 or DSL connection.

The man behind the knowledge and implementation of this breakthrough network is Fred Ziari, an Iranian immigrant and CEO of EZ Wireless, a Portland, Oregon-based technology firm that contracted with local authorities to provide the wireless service.

According to Ziari, the idea of introducing broadband wireless service to the region was triggered by the presence of US Army's Umatilla Chemical Depot, 11 miles west of Hermiston, Oregon, and the need to connect emergency personnel such as police, firefighters, and medical workers in the event of an accident or terrorist attack.

Through a unique joint public-private partnership between EZ Wireless and Morrow County Office of Emergency Management, the residents of a region previously without a single DSL connection now receive free wireless internet connections, and its emergency personnel are now the most prepared of any in the country to respond effectively to emergencies.

Sponsors of the network, which made the investment and business model possible, include the region’s police, fire, and sheriff’s departments, emergency management organizations, state health departments, the Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and regional hospitals.

The new wireless network also exceeds national security standards with 256-bit double-rolling key encryption, delivered by 66 telephone pole-like towers ranging from 75 to 150 feet tall.

Now, cyber-cowboys in Oregon are able to download movies and send pictures of their crops while working in the fields. Local police and emergency personnel gained instant remote access to street maps, floor plans, and paperless reports. Medical personnel can quickly access medical records and X-ray diagrams to help patients from anywhere in the region.

The system also made possible fast, secure messaging among emergency responders, while allowing the preparedness program to track the status of more than two hundred people wearing chemical protection suits.

Ziari is reportedly seeking a commitment from state officials to provide wireless broadband access to the whole state of Oregon.

“This kind of unique opportunity for our rural communities to be the first in the nation to have universal high-speed wireless access to the internet is analogous to the first city to get telephones or electricity or even running water,” said Hermiston Chamber of Commerce manager Rod Davis.

Taiwan Aims to Become Wireless Leader

Last week, Taiwanese government officials announced a pact with Intel Corporation to make the island nation a testing ground for WiMax, the next-generation wireless internet broadband technology, also known as 802.16.

Officials intend to build a WiMax network covering all of the island’s 23 million residents with more than $200 million in infrastructure investments and technology help from Intel. The system is scheduled for completion in 2007.

According to Ho Mei-yueh, Taiwan’s economics minister, the island seeks to become a leader in developing products for WiMax, such as PC cards and notebook computers, as well as broadband services, by being a first mover in the technology.

Intel already has WiMax products available and is among the staunchest proponents of wireless internet technology innovation.

Municipal Wireless Proposals Unsettles Telecom Industry

Elsewhere in the US, a growing number of cities view broadband internet access as a basic amenity and are seeking to implement municipality-wide networks.

Philadelphia, for example, stepped onto the wireless frontier by announcing its plans to install the largest municipal system in the country, to be built and managed by Earthlink, Inc. The 135-square-mile network intends to offer low-income residents service for roughly $10 per month.

In San Francisco, responding to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s wish to lower the financial barriers to internet access in his city, a dozen companies, including Google, have placed bids to provide free or low-cost city-wide wireless broadband access.

However, telecommunication companies who invested billions of dollars in cable or fiber optic networks have begun a political and public relations offensive. The hot issue is lost revenues for the big cable companies. Where traditional wired broadband networks require massive investments, new wireless technologies can provide similar or better levels of service at a fraction of a cost.

A bill sponsored by Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX) aiming to ban cities from building municipal broadband networks under most circumstances is circulating in Congress. Also making its way around Congress is an opposing bill backed by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), which supports such projects.

信不信由你！全球無線寬頻變革的最前線位於奧勒岡州（Oregon）東北一個人口稀少的聚集村落。這裡比西雅圖市大六倍，遍及600平方英里的無線網路給四縣、兩州、十四個城鎮的居民提供了免費的高速網際網路（Wi-Fi），它的速度比正常的T1或DSL連結快10倍。

實行這樣計劃的主導人是吉埃利（Fred Ziari），他是一位伊朗移民，同時也是波特蘭奧勒岡州EZ無線科技公司的首席執行長，是他與地方當局簽約提供無線服務的。

吉 埃利把寬頻無線服務引進該區的想法，主要來自美國軍隊尤馬蒂拉化學倉庫（US Army's Umatilla Chemical Depot）。這座倉庫位於奧勒岡州西邊的荷靡斯頓（Hermiston）11英里處，如有意外事故或恐怖攻擊，就需要網路緊急聯絡警察、消防隊員和醫療 人員等。

通過EZ無線和茂若縣緊急事務管理辦公室（Morrow County Office of Emergency Management）之間的公私合營，以前沒有DSL的該區居民，現今得到了免費無線網際網路，而且隨時待命的救援人員比國內其它任何地方都更能有效的 應變緊急事件。服務系統的成員包括警察局、消防局、郡長、政府部門、緊急處理組織、州健康部門、紅十字會、聯邦緊急事務管理局(FEMA)，以及地區醫院 等。

新無線網路超越了國家安全標準所使用256位元的雙滾鎖匙加密，而是採用66支約75到150英尺高像電線桿般的塔傳送。如今，在田野 工作時，奧勒岡州的電子牛仔可以下載電影並傳送農作物照片。當地警察和緊急救援人員獲得即時遙控街道地圖、平面圖、電子報告。醫療人員能迅速從該地的任何 地方得到病例資料和X光片以幫助病患。此外，這套系統也可以做到在緊急事件中讓應答機之間迅速安全地發送訊息，也可以追蹤多達200名以上穿著化學保護衣 的應急人員的狀態。

報導說吉埃利正尋求與州府官員洽談，向整個奧勒岡州提供無線寬頻服務。荷靡斯頓商會（Hermiston Chamber of Commerce manager）經理戴維斯（Rod Davis）說：「這種獨有的機會讓我們這個鄉下成了第一個普遍通高速無線網際網路的地方，就像第一個有電話、電或自來水的城市一樣。」

台 灣也希望跟上無線網路的潮流，台灣政府官員與英特爾公司宣佈，將促使這個島國成為下一代無線網際網路寬頻技術，也就是 802.16－WiMax的測試地。官方打算在全島建造WiMax網路，讓2300萬居民可以享有由英特爾提供技術協助且價值超過20億美元的基礎設施投 資，這套系統預計在2007年完成。據台灣經濟部長何美玥稱，台灣藉著在無線技術上領先跨出一步，試圖成為WiMax週邊產品，例如PC卡、筆記型電腦和 寬頻服務的領導者。

在美國其它地方，日益增多的城市把寬頻網路通路視為基本娛樂設施，而想辦法實現遍及全市的網路。如費城宣佈了在州内安裝 最大的市政系統計劃，這項計劃由鏈接地球（Earthlink）股份有限公司建造並管理，遍及135平方英里的網際網路將向低收入居民提供無線上網服務， 月費約10美元。另外在舊金山，應市長紐瑟姆（Gavin Newsom）緩解該市財政困難的要求，好幾家公司包括Google都給舊金山提供了免費或市內低價無線寬頻的使用權。

不過，在有線及光纖網路上投資幾十億美元的電信公司們已經展開了政治上和公關上的攻勢，熱門的議題是有線網路公司的收入銳減，因爲有線公司需要在傳統的寬頻網路上大量投資，而新興的無線技術只要少許的費用就能提供相似或者更高水準的服務。

目前國會議員皮特-賽遜斯（Pete Sessions）的R-TX提案禁止各城市推動市政寬頻網路的法令，然而參議員約翰-麥凱恩（Sen. John McCain）R-AZ法案和法蘭克-勞滕伯格（Frank Lautenberg）D新澤西法案則支持這樣的計劃。