Global Wi-Fi Development and Why Security Matters

Charles MokInternet Society Hong Kong

2008.06.04

Wi-Fi City: Dead or Alive?

Wi-Fi City: Hot or Not?

Pulled the plug: Big Cities: Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, Houston San Francisco: Earthlink (ISP), Google (advertising paid) –

pulled out Portland, Ore.; Tempe, Ariz.: Earthlink pulled out, thousands

of subscribers stranded Small cities: Rio Rancho, New Mexico, etc.

In operation: Santa Monica, California – downtown locations and parks St. Cloud, Florida – 80% of community of 54,000 using this

service Chaska, Minnesota – one of the earliest municipal Wi-Fi

network in the US; US$17/month for 250Kbps to 1.2 Mbps downstream, but still no full coverage

Philadelphia – one of the earliest (2005) and high profiled, with 100 square miles of coverage

Wi-Fi City: Why Not?

Professor Tim Wu, Columbia Law School: 'Setting up a large wireless network isn't as expensive as

installing wires into people's homes, but it still costs a lot of money. Not billions, but still millions. To recover costs, the private "partner" has to charge for service. But if the customer already has a cable or telephone connection to his home, why switch to wireless unless it is dramatically cheaper or better? In typical configurations, municipal wireless connections are slower, not dramatically cheaper, and by their nature less reliable than existing Internet services. Those facts have put muni Wi-Fi in the same deathtrap that drowned every other company that peddled a new Net access scheme.'

Wi-Fi City: Why Not?

Obstacles: Technology hurdles Lousy marketing Bad business plans Lowering broadband costs Expensive for cities to subsidize

Big cities vs. smaller municipal projects Case study 1: Chicago, Illinois

Original plan was to blanket 228 sq miles of city Shelved in mid 2007 due to 'ballooning budget and

dwindling usage' Alternatives:

Negotiating with private providers like Earthlink Sprint-Nextel to roll out WiMAX

Wi-Fi City: Why Not?

Case Study 2: Philadelphia: Free access to city utility poles for mounting of

AP/routers ISP to build infrastructure for free hotspots to

provide inexpensive citywide residential services, including 25,000 special accounts

But number of routers needed was drastically higher than expected

Late start for marketing, so paid subscribers growth was slower than planned

Broadband market prices dropping, leading to more affordability

Wi-Fi City: London

ISP partner: The Cloud Launched April 2007

127 nodes and will evolve to offer 95% coverage across areas covered by the City of London Corporation

Wi-Fi network built into lamp posts and streetsigns

Wi-Fi City: Taipei's Wifly

Wi-Fi City: Taipei's Wifly

PPP with Q-ware NT$500/month Expanding into residential

services Initial low usage but strong

Government (city) backing Support from/for technology

community: hardware/design and manufacturers etc. of Wi-Fi and mobile products

A long-term development view

M-Taipei followed by other cities and M-Taiwan

http://youtube.com/watch?v=h0rMVODaO4c

From Taipei to Taiwan

Wi-Fi City: Hong Kong?

Public: GovWiFi – free WiFi Internet access to all citizens at designated government premises Government buildings, libraries Recreational venues, parks

Private: Scheme to allow ISPs to mount AP/routers on public lamp-poles and signs Several ISPs have obtained clearance from OFTA to

proceed or go in trials Obstacles: electricity Government coordination problems

Existing Wireless ISPs PCCW Netvigator, Y5Zone etc. Free access in locations like airport

Wi-Fi City: Hong Kong?

In retrospect, Government decision not to build its own municipal wireless network was proper. Avoid high, long-term public financing burden Avoid competition with private market and

oppositions from existing players (3G) Technological transition (WiMAX)

Still need improvement: Promotion and marketing Applications not just infrastructure Better high-level government coordination Explore city wireless benefits for public services:

Police, fire, emergency medical services etc.

Final Words on Security

Four levels of concerns: Network identification

Evil twin attack: fake access points with look-alike SSID names like 'free wifi,' etc.

Authentication Access to accounts (username, password)

Transmission security How to prevent snooping in open space?

Device protection Your computer is visible on the wireless network

An interesting question: Does Muni WI-Fi pose a risk to security because of the

lack of incentives to push security solutions Tips for End-users on Internet Surfing via Public

Wireless Services: http://www.infosec.gov.hk/english/yourself/wireless_3.html

Thank you

Charles MokInternet Society Hong Kongmok@hknet.comcharlespmok@gmail.com

http://www.isoc.hk/http://charlesmok.blogspot.com/http://www.it360.hk/