'Access to many wireless providers' may be trivial in the States, but in other countries, not so much.
Take, for instance, New Zealand. Free wifi is as rare as the proverbial hen's teeth - aside from services in public libraries, some of which are provided by Aotearoa People's Network Kaharoa[1]. I enjoy going through the Wellington airport because wifi is free there, but in Auckland (a bigger airport with more international traffic) it costs; and you can forget about free access in hotels[2]. Based on the best information I can find, there are 143 free wifi hotspots, and 46 nearly free[3]. Granted, we are a country of a little more than 4 million people, but there's an imbalance there.
Now, if you're talking about 'wireless' as in mobile data connectivity, the choices are even fewer, as there are three networks from which to choose, so they can pretty much set the price. What Google and Verizon are proposing hasn't really hit here, but if it does go through, it's only a matter of time before Google starts talking to Telecom/Vodafone/2 Degrees to get the same in place here.
Add to this our notably miserable connection to the rest of the world in the first place (the one pipe that brings it all in, the Southern Cross Cable, is half owned by Telecom and past its use by date[4]) and network providers that already throttle[5].
These sorts of things present a very real risk to the ideas of access to information, knowledge-building, and innovation. All of which, we as librarians/information professionals should be concerned with. I agree there are practical aspects to this as well, but arguing that we should not weigh in on this worries me. Using a poor metaphor, it's like saying the electric company has every right to divert my neighbour's power to my house just because I use more lamps. It should be equitable, don't you think?
Mike
[1] http://www.aotearoapeoplesnetwork.org/
[2] http://blog.libraryjournal.com/tennantdigitallibraries/2007/09/11/the-blessing-of-the-flat-fee/
[3] http://jahoog.org/wifi/
[4] Though there is a competitor for this on the horizon: http://www.pacificfibre.net/
[5] http://www.3news.co.nz/Telecoms-Big-Time-plan-comes-to-an-end/tabid/412/articleID/170356/
>>> Kyle Banerjee <banerjek_at_UOREGON.EDU> 13/08/2010 3:43 a.m. >>>
>
> ...why differentiate between wireless and wireline?...
A couple reasons come to mind. First of all, getting access to many wireless
providers from the same spot is trivial so no one is trapped with a
particular provider. Therefore, if a provider imposes terms you find
objectionable, you can choose another. Secondly, wireless bandwidth isn't
nearly what wired bandwidth is yet -- ATT's inability to accommodate
ipad/iphone increases in traffic have gotten that company trashed in the
media. This is also why the ipad is denied access to campus networks at some
major institutions.
We ask people to accept our expertise, and it seems to me that how to
transmit data across a network so that it can be usable is properly the
domain of network and systems experts. Unless those communities do not feel
this is properly a network management issue, it does not strike me as
appropriate for libraries as an institution to weigh in on this matter.
Sure, we're committed to making info as free and unrestrained as possible.
But there are practical aspects to making this happen that deserve real
consideration.
kyle
--
----------------------------------------------------------
Kyle Banerjee
Digital Services Program Manager
Orbis Cascade Alliance
banerjek_at_uoregon.edu / 503.999.9787
Received on Thu Aug 12 2010 - 17:38:48 EDT