Aardvarks Aattic Blog

We Be Wired...

Originally published on aardvarksaattic.com on Wednesday, September 6, 2006

No longer merely content to follow in the footsteps of other major metropolitan cities Toronto has embarked upon a pilot project which will, ultimately, see the entire city blanketed in wireless internet bliss.

Toronto Hydro, one of the few utilities that already have the basic infrastructure in place, today launched a six month free trial period for wall to wall wireless internet connection for everyone and anyone who live, work or play in Toronto’s downtown city core. From Front Street to the south to Queen Street to the north and Spadina Avenue all the way east to Church Street. As of today you are all covered. You and anyone else who chooses to spend any amount of time in that xx mile square grid.

Over the next three years Toronto Hydro hope to stretch this self same blanket to include all of the Greater Metropolitan Toronto Area; but the service will only be free for the aforementioned six month period. Meaning that those fortunate enough to live, work or play within the selected coverage zone will be the only ones eligible to partake of this freebie.

For the rest of us, depending upon when the service is extended into our own neighborhoods, we are pretty much shit out of luck.

In the grand tradition of drug dealers everywhere following the initial taste a rate of $29 a month, $10 a day or $5 an hour will apply.

Still, the concept intrigues. Too be able to travel anywhere and everywhere in this wondrous city of ours and remain connected the whole time? The very thought invites shivers to tingle up and down my spine. Then again, I’m a bit of a geek. If I wasn’t, would I actually have a web presence of any kind? My point exactly.

So, for this to work a couple of things are going to have to happen. First and foremost, Toronto Hydro are going to have to convince a goodly number of people that being able to seamlessly travel around the city and remain wired is a luxury that they just can’t live without. In theory, you could be traveling on a street car, trucking along Queen Street from Kingston Road right the way out to xxxxx all the while emailing Natasha or IM’ing Roxy. Or downloading the latest hit by “Fiddy Cent”. Sorry, that just kind of slipped out; I, of course, meant downloading the latest hit by “Aerosmith”. That should in no way shape or form count towards the previously expressed criteria for you to pop a cap into my oh so sorry lily white ass, alright?

Now where was I. Right; a pretty inviting concept if you are the wired type. But how many of us are there, really?

Secondly, and potentially more importantly, what kind of thru put should we expect from this? I have been around long enough to remember when the now painfully slow process of watching a screen refresh line by line at 300 bps was still a miracle to behold; the whole idea that I was able to remotely connect to anything. But that feeling of awe is long gone. I’m now at the point where a slow high speed connection is frustration incarnate, regardless of the fact that a slow high speed connection is still faster than dial up.

Ultimately, I think this will be the litmus test for this emerging technology. If you build it fast, they will come. If you build it and it operates at a snails pace, probably not so much.

Either way, Toronto will definitely have a leg up on, well, pretty much anywhere else in North America with this far reaching scheme. We will stand on our own.

Personally, I can hardly wait. These days not being wired makes me feel I am not being all that I possibly could be. Regardless of how much I may use this service, the fact that it will be there waiting for me should I choose to is more than enough to satisfy

But it’s gotta be a pisser, ya know…

If you want to find out more about this initiative you can check it out here, here or here.