subject: Join The Movement For Global Wireless Internet Access [print this page] The internet has come a long way in its development since the 1990s. Where once a clunky green screen desktop sat as the eyesore in the middle of the room, there now is a hands-free bluetooth device hooked up to your ear. Our lives are mobile and our technology has followed suit. We are now in the era of wireless internet, and the Ethernet cord has been made obsolete. The future of wireless internet seeks to expand access exponentially to the most remote areas of the world. The goal is not only to make internet universally accessible, but it is to make mobile broadband universally acceptable, no matter where in the word you are trying to connect.
Picture the future scenarios that universally accessible mobile broadband would allow. A lone hiker who loses his way while hiking the grueling 2000 mile Appalachian Trail can pinpoint his location using his battery powered wireless device with the help of a wireless signal. In this situation, he has saved himself days of aimless hiking, and perhaps even his own life. Another scenario is that of a traveler who finds himself in a city where no one speaks his native language and he has an emergency and needs to find a hospital quickly. He can take out his wireless device and Google map himself there in seconds. A final futuristic scenario is that of a person living in a rural area who suffers from a seemingly rare sickness, and does not have the resources to get him or herself to a doctors office as it is over 3 hours away. This person could use a personal wireless device to look up his or her symptoms and self diagnose. So as you can see, there are a multitude of ways that globally accessible wireless internet can 'save time, resources, and even lives.
Coming back to the present, we know that to get to this futuristic scenario in which internet can be accessed from anywhere, we need to invest in the technologies that can practically create a network so expansive. While today, most people can access 4G in any major city in the US as well as major cities around the world, the places that are left without access are often in rural areas and developing countries. Previously the argument for not having any kind of internet in these places was twofold. The first being that it was too costly to put in the thousands of miles of copper wiring that it would require to physically connect these places to the world wide web. The second reason that has prevented these places from accessing the internet was that it is impractical because most people in these places cannot afford the technologies, such as computers and mobile phones, for the matter to be relevant. The new technologies being developed, like wimax, eliminate the first problem, as there is no wiring required. Wimax technology utilizes microwaves, which can travel longer distances and are more steady and reliable than satellites. The second problem of global access to wireless is also becoming obsolete, as these technologies no longer are so expensive to use, and with charitable initiatives all of the world, like 1 laptop per child, people from all socioeconomic backgrounds are gaining access every day.
by: Adam Hampton
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