July 30, 2005
(Updated) Help Keep Pioneer Courthouse Square Awash In Free Wifi
Current Host Of Wireless Node Is Moving
Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.
Once upon a time, back in 2003, the Personal Telco Project almost lost its wifi node providing coverage to Pioneer Courthouse Square, when the node's host, WebCriteria, moved its offices.
Riding to the rescue was the Portland Business Alliance, which stepped in to let PTP operate the node out of its offices overlooking the Square.
But now, the Alliance itself is moving, effective as of September 1. That move, apparently, again threatens to leave PTP without a node providing coverage to the Square, relegating it to being covered only by the for-pay wifi provided by T-Mobile out of the Starbucks on the Square's northwest corner.
So, it occured to us that we might have some readers out there who either themselves work in offices overlooking the Square, or who have connections to offices overlooking the Square.
We have little doubt that PTP itself is actively looking for new hosts for the node, but it won't hurt to raise the matter here, since the more people there are thinking about it, there more likely PTP will be able to secure a good location from which to continue covering the Square.
If anyone has anything to offer towards making sure that PTP's wifi node at Pioneer Courthouse Square remains in place after the Portland Business Alliance moves, please either post a comment here, or contact PTP directly through their website, linked above.
July 30th, 2005
On a related matter, this past week also saw a public workshop on the Unwire Portland plan. We originally had intended to go to this, but did not for two reasons. First, the address provided was not showing up on TriMet's website, and so we had no idea how to get there. Second (and to some extent more importantly), what originally had been touted as an event intended for the public to give their input into the drafting of the Request for Proposals apparently had at some point morphed into a less important meeting in essence just meant to pimp the plan.
Based upon the report at Daily Wireless (we had a hunch that Sam would be there), that does seem to be what happened.
Comments (9)
Chris Smith on 30 Jul 2005
Anywho who can't get their wireless fix at Pioneer Courthouse Square is welcome to move a few blocks north and connect at O'Bryant Square, courtesy of City Club and Saw.net.
Steve on 31 Jul 2005
Why can't POVA put a node in the Visitor Information Center? If anyone here knows a POVA board member (there are many), why not bring the issue up with them?
The One True b!X on 31 Jul 2005
I can't see anyone actually affiliated with the Square itself doing this, since it would compete with Starbucks and their T-Mobile.
Steve on 31 Jul 2005
I doubt Starbucks got any sort of exclusivity agreement, and they could hardly threaten to leave after investing in their expansion. All Starbucks locations offer T-Mobile WiFi, which I'm sure is convenient to subscribers, but many Starbucks have to compete with free WiFi, too. I don't see how this would be any different.
Steve on 01 Aug 2005
Also, if PTP sells ad space on their start page, I'm sure they could make some very good money off a downtown retailer.
tomhiggins on 01 Aug 2005
The city and the information board have had plenty of years to do up a wifi spot in the Pio^2 area, but they have not. We almost lost the sqaure once when Webtrends moved, the PBA came thru and for that we have been very very thankful.
Why is this spot so important to the PTP and its users? Good question and one the deserves an answer.
Ths spot is known as Portland's living room, its the place where folks are free to come togther in good times, in times of need, in times of protest and in times of celebration. We at the PTP have been honored to have helped folks in those times and in being there for just any old time. It speaks to our grassroots DoItYourself mission and in many ways it speaks to what makes Portland the great city it is. The riches of this city are indeed its citizens.
Did we wait for the city to unwire the Sqaure? Nope.We went out and begged for the window ledge, some bandwidth and then we scrounged up the gear to make it happen. Over the years we have held that node up with the efforts of our all voluntere work force. Tax money spent on servicing the whole of Pio^2... $0
Did we ever charge anyone a bloody red cent, let alone a monthly fee? That is simply not what we are about. What we are about is empowering people and hopefuly spuring them on to help grow this network we are building.
Education and Empowerment over Usgae Fees and Restrictive Services.
Now the city is on to selling the specturm of the city to the best bidder, who in turn will set up a For Pay wifi service. Thats nice, mazeltov on the venture and I hope it works out. But lets not confuse that with empowering the citizenry to build and use thier own network.
So we need your help, we need a window ledge and a power outlete to get the node that has been serving the Square for many many years a new lease on life. We need your help to let us continue keeping that node chugging so that anyone who needs or wants can get connected to the net and each other from the heart of Portland.
As Nelson Mandela once said so well "Aint to proud to beg" We beg you to help us find a way to continue serving Portland and to helping this network, a netowork built of , by and for the citizens of Portland, continue to grow.
Thanks for reading...
-tom higgins
Director of Education
Personal Telco Project
Lucky Mike on 02 Aug 2005
Aside from the possible conflict with Starbucks, there is a huge problem with a node being in the visitor center: it's underground. The signal would only serve people in the visitor center, unlike PTP's node which serves everyone in the area.
Also, even if PTP did sell ad space (which would be fairly contrary to our ideals, and won't be happening) it would take a lot of ads for us to sign a lease just to host a wifi router. The current arrangement makes sense. It's great for the business that hosts it (karma/press), great for PTP (it keeps the flagship node alive) and great for Portland.
tomhiggins on 09 Aug 2005
From b!x's blog to the pages of the Oregonian .....
Oregonian Story on the PTP's woes in Pio Square
One note, the 3-4 users a day number is bogus. The offical stats show about 20 unique users a day using this great node.
-tomhiggins
The One True b!X on 09 Aug 2005
Yeah, man. Where's my Pulitzer.