Digital activists push for free wireless Internet for all

A movement is underway to make wireless Internet access ubiquitous and free in most urban environments, with people's home routers as the source of these public connections. The people behind this idea have a few specific goals in mind to help their vision become reality: creating a highly secure router that efficiently divides a home's private network from that accessible to the public, and convincing people that using such technology is worth their while. Adi Kamdar, an activist with a San Francisco-based non-profit called the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which started the Open Wireless Movement three years ago, said one way to sell the idea is to appeal to people's sense of community. "Providing open wireless is actually a nice thing to do," Kamdar said in a phone interview, likening it to "providing your neighbour with a cup of tea." Altruism aside, Kamdar said many Internet subscribers might prefer a router with privacy protection that is superior to what's available now, which those behind the movement are trying to create and eventually market. "We set out to create the open wireless routers," he said. "In doing so, we looked at existing router systems and existing technology and realized that most SOHO routers — small office, home office routers — are actually pretty insecure." If more people open up their personal Internet accounts for public usage, there will be less of a need to purchase data plans from mobile-service providers, Kamdar agreed. He said such a shift would improve users' privacy by limiting service providers' ability to track their locations and online activities for purposes such as personalized advertising. "Right now, we're compromising our privacy by subscribing to these wireless services in exchange for the convenience of having the wireless service everywhere," he said. "Our phones are essentially tracking devices. ... Wouldn't it be nice if I could just connect from point to point? It would be much more efficient from a technical perspective. I'd have much more fast Internet. But also it would afford me a little bit of privacy so that AT&T or Verizon doesn't have to know exactly where I am at all times or exactly what sort of services I'm using at all times." To a lesser extent, Kamdar acknowledged that some people might find they can get by accessing their neighbour's open Internet account and not bother getting home Internet service of their own. However, he added that one potential feature of the router in development would give users the option of controlling and adjusting how much bandwidth gets used by others. This, he said, could make it impractical for heavy Internet users to depend on others’ accounts. "So you could say, 'I want this open but once one gig of data has gone through, cut this off for the rest of the month.' " Kamdar added that people who provide access to their home networks this way would have to be aware of how sharing could affect their monthly bills if they are not on unlimited data plans. The Open Wireless Movement's website shows several other Internet advocacy groups besides the Electronic Frontier Foundation behind the project, including Canada's OpenMedia. Kamdar said some private-sector, for-profit interests have also shown interest, including Google Inc.'s fibre Internet division, and a California-based ISP providing fibre-based gigabit service called Sonic. "They are attracted to the idea of providing their customers with a safer and more secure piece of hardware," Kamdar said. While the long-term strength of Open Wireless Movement remains to be seen, there is no disputing the fact that the availability of free WiFi is proliferating. The City of Montreal recently deployed WiFi in its downtown core. Municipalities have been finding opportunities to team with the private sector to provide WiFi at public facilities. Shaw Communications Inc. has been growing a WiFi network, primarily for its own customers, in Western Canada since 2011, while Telus Corp. last month announced the availability of more than 8,000 open hotspots throughout Alberta and British Columbia. Even the idea of using people's home Internet connections to create public WiFi hotspots is not unheard of. Early this year, Cogeco Cable Inc. said it had started providing Internet customers with routers capable of giving others within a certain range of their homes a free WiFi signal. Comcast Corp. has been engaged in this practice, known as "home spotting," in the United States for the last two years. Troy Crandall, a telecom analyst with 3Macs, said there is a coalition of citizens in Montreal who agree to open their home WiFi routers for the benefit of others, along the lines of what the Open Wireless Movement advocates. Crandall said he does not think, in the overall scheme of things, this type of activity is a threat to telecom service providers. "You're still paying for someone else's WiFi," he said in a phone interview. "More people using your WiFi is going to increase the bandwidth consumption on your side, or you're going to have to move up to a higher tier, like unlimited." He added that there are provisions in many Internet service agreements that prevent the sharing of services with those outside of a household, giving ISPs some grounds to step in if an unusual amount of activity is detected on any one account. Crandall said Fredericton has had free WiFi blanketing most of the city for more than a decade. He said while this might mitigate the need for some people to get cellphone data plans, Fredericton's WiFi doesn't penetrate walls very well, so it isn't a practical substitution for home Internet service. He said most public WiFi employed in urban areas has similar characteristics. Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) spokesman Marc Choma, when asked about concerns in the wireless industry over the growth of WiFi, said in an email: "One of CWTA’s main goals is to see more Canadians using more wireless in more ways to stay connected whenever or wherever they choose. And as many of our members continue to build and expand their networks of WiFi access points, they too see the value in offering their customers a variety of ways to lead more connected lives." When asked how much of a problem the growth of free WiFi poses for the telecom industry in general, Crandall said: "It's in the back of their minds. But I think at the same time, given that they own most of the backbone structure, they know they're always going to be part of it anyhow. " are kind of in the driver's seat. They're probably mapping out what their moves are, what their plans are and what their strategies are going to be going forward. To a certain extent, they can control it." — With reporting by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Digital activists push for free wireless Internet for all

News | July 10, 2015

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Digital activists push for free wireless Internet for all

News | July 10, 2015

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