I have never been to New Orleans, though I've wanted to
go there for years. However, I more than likely will go there on business either later this year or early in 2007,
depending on when the event is scheduled.
I am eagerly looking forward to going to New Orleans. It's a city filled with history and culture, and I can't wait to walk up and down Bourbon Street. And, as "weird" as this sounds, I am looking forward to spending money down there, such as buying gifts for my wife and daughter and dining in some of the restaurants. I figure that, in my small way, I am helping New Orleans get back on its feet after the horror of Hurricane Katrina. I only wish that companies like BellSouth Corporation and Cox Communications would follow that same path.
As we have discussed here before, New Orleans has a public WiFi network, mostly concentrated in the downtown area, that CIO Greg Meffert refers to as a "lifeline" for the city. Basically, it acts as a means, if not the only way, for both businesses and residents in the area to communicate.
Anyway, Meffert has been fighting to keep this little network running at 512-kbits-per-second, a
pretty nice speed I'd say. However, BellSouth, Cox, and others are bitching and moaning about this network, and are
lobbying to get a Louisiana law enforced whereby public networks can only operate at 192-kbits-per-second. It's a
ludicrous law to begin with, because as technologies improve, localities are not going to take steps
to improve their own networks?
In any case, these companies are saying that the speed of New Orleans' present network constitutes "unfair competition" to other providers, primarily because they don't have (as of yet) the capability of deploying a network such as this to the city. On top of that, EarthLink is said to be talking to city officials about building a network similar to what they're doing in Philadelphia and San Francisco, and that has these companies running scared.
My point in all this is that New Orleans should be considered a "special case" when it comes to the enforcement of this Louisiana state law. This city was literally washed away a few months back, and it's going to take years for it to return to anywhere near where it once was. Obviously, the priority is to help residents and businesses get back on their feet, and to rebuild the infrastructure. That rebuilding process includes the deployment of a reliable communications system, whereby all parties that make up a city (government, residents, and businesses) can leverage it to their advantage.
It goes without saying that this may reflect a bit of naivete on my part to think that businesses who are being protective of their own interests would drop their objections in order to advance the common good. However, think of it this away--New Orleans is now a blank canvas, and there is an opportunity here for some real innovation. There is a chance that a wireless network could function as the foundation of the city's entire communications infrastructure, the first of its kind in the nation. It would take a lot of work to get it in place and working properly and reliably, but this opportunity should not be passed.
In addition, why can't BellSouth, Cox, and others participate in the development of this network? Surely they have the people and processes to help out. And yes, if they are smart about it, they can even make some money out of it.
It's a shame that with all of New Orleans has been through that this argument about a wireless network has escalated to where Mr. Meffert has even expressed the thought of going to jail over his refusal to acquiesce to the Louisiana law or the pressures of these "threatened" companies. New Orleans needs a few breaks, and this should be one of them.
