[MakkabI]
November 3rd, 2004, 05:02 AM
As promised, Jerusalem is now wireless. The new Unwire Jerusalem program, which provides free wireless Internet access in selected public places, was launched Monday at a ceremony at City Hall.
The program, which is the first of its kind in Israel, allows tourists and business people visiting the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall and its side streets, the Rivlin-Nahalat Shiva mall, Kikar Safra, and Rehov Shlomzion Hamalka to surf the Internet and receive e-mail on their WiFi-enabled computers. Other areas, such as Emek Refaim, the Hebrew University, government offices, schools, museums, malls, and parks, will also be unwired shortly.
The project was headed by the municipality, international chip giant Intel, IT services provider Compumat, and the nonprofit Jerusalem Business Development Corporation (JBDC). Services were also provided by Cisco Systems, Check Point Software Technologies, 012 Golden Lines, and venture-capital fund JVP.
WiFi is only accessible on WiFi-enabled laptops – the most popular models use Intel's locally-developed Centrino technology – or computers equipped with external wireless cards. People in the unwired "hot spots" can simply press the wireless button on their computer to connect, and then surf as usual on the high-speed (54 megabytes per second) connection. The technology will allow visitors to easily access tourism information, and encourage executives to expand their work environments outdoors, the organizers said.
"Wireless Internet is enabling people to access the knowledge of the world in ways never before possible," said Stacy Smith, vice president and CIO of Intel, a man who has seen similar programs implemented across the world. "It can also bridge the digital divide" that prevents low-income sectors from getting online, he noted.
Contrary to early reports that the service would be free for just the first year, JBDC chairman Jacob Ner-David told reporters that the program will remain free forever. The infrastructure was planned so that offices adjacent to the unwired zones would not be able to take advantage of the free service, but it is possible that some firms may get lucky. Likewise, some restaurants and cafes will have wireless connections indoors, but not others.
Voice over IP services, which allow voice calls to be made over the World Wide Web, are not available now, but may be made available in the future, Ner-David said.
The program, which is the first of its kind in Israel, allows tourists and business people visiting the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall and its side streets, the Rivlin-Nahalat Shiva mall, Kikar Safra, and Rehov Shlomzion Hamalka to surf the Internet and receive e-mail on their WiFi-enabled computers. Other areas, such as Emek Refaim, the Hebrew University, government offices, schools, museums, malls, and parks, will also be unwired shortly.
The project was headed by the municipality, international chip giant Intel, IT services provider Compumat, and the nonprofit Jerusalem Business Development Corporation (JBDC). Services were also provided by Cisco Systems, Check Point Software Technologies, 012 Golden Lines, and venture-capital fund JVP.
WiFi is only accessible on WiFi-enabled laptops – the most popular models use Intel's locally-developed Centrino technology – or computers equipped with external wireless cards. People in the unwired "hot spots" can simply press the wireless button on their computer to connect, and then surf as usual on the high-speed (54 megabytes per second) connection. The technology will allow visitors to easily access tourism information, and encourage executives to expand their work environments outdoors, the organizers said.
"Wireless Internet is enabling people to access the knowledge of the world in ways never before possible," said Stacy Smith, vice president and CIO of Intel, a man who has seen similar programs implemented across the world. "It can also bridge the digital divide" that prevents low-income sectors from getting online, he noted.
Contrary to early reports that the service would be free for just the first year, JBDC chairman Jacob Ner-David told reporters that the program will remain free forever. The infrastructure was planned so that offices adjacent to the unwired zones would not be able to take advantage of the free service, but it is possible that some firms may get lucky. Likewise, some restaurants and cafes will have wireless connections indoors, but not others.
Voice over IP services, which allow voice calls to be made over the World Wide Web, are not available now, but may be made available in the future, Ner-David said.