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Municipal Wi-Fi (Muni Wi-Fi or Muni-Fi) involves available technologies combined with economies of scale that can provide cost savings for residents in a metropolitan or local area.
Techopedia Explains Municipal Wi-Fi
A number of muni Wi-Fi plans involve adding large numbers of hardware pieces, like routers, throughout a local area to provide a blanket of wireless network coverage. Initial systems involve certain costs, but by replacing the need for every household, business and career professional to source separate WiFi router connections, a municipality can provide a service with much greater value.
When looking at individual wireless access rates paid by Internet service providers (ISP), it is evident that a municipality can usually set up a municipal Wi-Fi system, collect a modest tax that is much lower than a household’s existing Wi-Fi bill and, by doing so, create a profitable and win-win situation.
Analysts who have reviewed previous efforts of cities and municipalities to offer municipal Wi-Fi have noted that the major barrier to these services is pressure from the telecom industry, which greatly profits from individual purchasing models. However, dozens of municipalities have instituted municipal Wi-Fi in some capacity.
