Oh, boy - I can just imagine the hacking that?ll happen? ?Forget finding an Internet cafe. For less than what it costs to build a small library, city officials believe they can turn all 135 square miles of Philadelphia into the world?s largest wireless Internet hot spot.
The ambitious plan, now under discussion, would involve placing thousands of small transmitters around the city ? probably atop lampposts. Each of these wireless hot spots would be capable of communicating with the Wi-Fi network cards that now come standard with many computers.
Once complete, the $10 million network would deliver broadband Internet almost anywhere radio waves can travel ? including poor neighborhoods where high-speed Internet access is now rare.
The city would likely offer the service either for free, or at costs far lower than the $35 to $60 a month charged for broadband delivered over telephone and cable TV lines, said the city?s chief information officer, Dianah Neff.
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