Toronto latest city to get WiFied

The Toronto Star is reporting that the biggest city in Canada (that would be Toronto) is about to get blanketed in WiFi goodness, joining such US cities as Philadelphia and San Francisco with similarly ambitious municipal broadband initiatives. Mayor David Miller is expected to announce the project in conjunction with Toronto Hydro, who had previously bought 18,000 street lamps around the city for $60 million, and which will be used partly to help the water utility fulfill a mandate requiring it to deploy remotely-readable smart meters. No details are available yet regarding proposed pricing structures or benefits to the city such as reduced-cost access for low-income households, but the project already has some detractors who question the appropriateness of government involvement in citywide mesh networks. Also keeping a close eye on developments are major Canadian telecom players such as Rogers, Bell, and Tellus, whose own wired and wireless broadband services could be threatened by Toronto Hydro's network.

[Thanks, Ted]

[Camperton @ Mar 7th 2006 7:32AM]

they spell it Telus, with one 'L'.

[earthling @ Mar 7th 2006 7:37AM]

Toronto Hydro is running around the Toronto core pitching cheap high speed (100Mb) to business users. I think bell/rogers/telus should be worried. Between Toronto Hydro and Cogent offering cheap bandwidth ($700/month 100Mb to front street) it has left them out in the cold. They additionally have wireless services from Terago and bonded DSL from Pathway both of which offer VPN and managed connectivity for very competitive rates (different types of services).

Outside of the metro loop, Pathway in particular is selling bonded DSL (single IP, full bandwidth up and down) for 2 to 4 DSL connections (up to 12Mbx3.2Mb) to even the fringe areas at rates that are extremely competitive with Allstream (the other big business player) single link DSL, and much cheaper than Bell T1 connections.

[Ryan @ Mar 7th 2006 7:42AM]

Big up from the T-dot, with all it's WIFI

[suhail @ Mar 7th 2006 7:45AM]

will the suburbs be covered?

[StefanW @ Mar 7th 2006 7:53AM]

Go Toronto! Stick it to those greedy damn telcos.

[Richard @ Mar 7th 2006 7:57AM]

Hey Evan, do some research.

"Toronto Hydro" is NOT a water utility. Water is the domain of the city. Toronto Hydro is the ELECTRICITY provider for Toronto.

Hydro is the common word Canadians use for electricity. It goes back to the days when all the power in Canada (well, the vast majority anyways) was generated by HYDROelectric power plants.

[Richard @ Mar 7th 2006 7:59AM]

Oh, and P.S.: The Provinicial Government has mandated that all new electric meters installed be "smart" meters... with the eventual plan to replace all the meters in the province with them.

[Steve Ross @ Mar 7th 2006 8:04AM]

Wasn't there a college in Canada that banned wifi recently over cancer concerns? Time to break out the tinfoil helmets!

[Special_K @ Mar 7th 2006 8:15AM]

To all WiFi's detractors in the T-Dot, I have this to say: bitch, bitch, bitch. I was dreaming of this day since I heard about 'Frisco's plan, and I won't let some damn blackfooted, smelly hippies get in my way (hyperbole most definately intended!) Us Canadians traditionaly have a problem with the idea of P3s (public-private partnerships), and for the most part this is justified; the term is most-often used when it comes to health care, which we value more than our children. This, however, is something that will help citizens access the internet (and thus, improve their quality of life) and it can't be acieved without a public-private (or really semi-private, as Hydro is owned in part by the gov't). If people want the gov't to build their own city-wide mesh network, I invite them to.

[Alan Gahtan @ Mar 7th 2006 8:25AM]

I don't think this is a very big deal. It won't be free. It probably will not handle high bandwidth or low latency applications well. And it probably won't work too well indoors. If I was Bell or Rogers, I woundn't be too worried.

[rawr @ Mar 7th 2006 9:55AM]

well, it's gotta be better than Rogers. hell, a couple of cans and string would be better than Rogers.

[Dougplanet @ Mar 7th 2006 10:07AM]

@ #11 - So true. Rogers blows. And I'm sure any city effort will be cheaper than the $25 for 5 MB roughly that Fido/Rogers/Telus/Bell charges for their dataplans, or their teaming up to form "Hotspot" at low rates of $8 hr.

Go Miller go!

[James @ Mar 7th 2006 10:17AM]

Sweet. VOIP phones. Laptop internet use anywhere. Not that there isn't already tons of unsecure hotspots all over the place as in any major city, but I think universally accessible wifi is as important as education.

[David @ Mar 7th 2006 10:41AM]

Muahahaha this is excellent. Now I can sit in class and enjoy the WiFi goodness. NICEEEEEE.

[Chad @ Mar 7th 2006 10:43AM]

I can understand the mistake with Hydro being the water company... since "Hydro" is water. For some reason, people here like to call electricity "Hydro" since they believe much of Ontario's energy comes from Hydro-electric dams. Unfortunetly that is just a marketing move on behalf of the "Hydro" companies who actually get more than 50% of their energy from non-green sources such as coal and gas. They also believe the balance of the energy comes from our Nuclear plants... not true, they put them in the suburbs so we think they supply a lot of power (and so they're close to the consumers), but then why are all the coal and gas plants in the north? Close to the source? True for coal, but not for gas. I digress.

[Paul @ Mar 7th 2006 10:45AM]

YEAAHHHH!! We're getting WIFIED!

[Luch @ Mar 7th 2006 10:51AM]

hopefully it wont cost an arm & leg to use the wifi! rogers just loves to rip ppl off... actually all provoders do... lets see when this is actually rolled out!

[Paul Kishimoto @ Mar 7th 2006 11:48AM]

@ #8 - that's a very "Do you know Joe from Canada?" remark. Lakehead University is way out in Thunder Bay, a far cry from downtown Toronto. Time to break out the atlas!

[Gary R @ Mar 7th 2006 1:43PM]

Full official press release:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2006/07/c4584.html

- 6sq kilometers coverage
- phase 1 by June
- fully operational end of year
- first 6 months free for all

[future council member @ Mar 7th 2006 2:21PM]

Don't be fooled.

Miller and his Deputy Mayors are about to be in a heated election this fall and I (one of the challengers for Council) and the rest have come out stating that the City should be providing low cost (or no cost) wireless coverage as a basic need of the people. If everyone has access, only society will benefit.

Millers actions are only designed to help him politically and we should not expect that he will carry through with it as it should be.

If it was done correctly, (for individuals), by me, Rogers, Bell et al would be ordering a hit on me and the others.

BTW, get out and vote

[psxp @ Mar 7th 2006 3:26PM]

yes, I noticed while living here..

HYDRO = Electricity in Canada
Tim Hortons = Coffee In Canada , eh


ha ha

[Michael @ Mar 7th 2006 3:34PM]

Toronto Hydro is installing 'smart' meters on every customer in the next couple of years, the primary use for this network is monitoring the meters. Toronto Hydro has been a major business ISP and dark fibre provider for a couple of years now, they definately have the experience needed to do this.

I'm actually excited about this, the cell providers have ridiculous pricing on their wireless internet products so they will have to become competitive to survive. Ted Rogers is sweating, I'm sure Bell and Telus must be as well. Hooray for competition!

[CME @ Mar 7th 2006 3:35PM]

Doesn't anyone find it troubling that Ontario Hydro (Now called Hydro One) who has racked up 1/3 of Ontario's debt (40 of 130 Billion), is now poking their nose into technologies they know nothing about?
Bend over Ontario, and enjoy your WiFi hotspots.

[tiuk @ Mar 7th 2006 4:27PM]

This is cool, planning on moving to T.O sometime in the future.

[shankeith @ Mar 7th 2006 4:57PM]

for all the ppl...its going to be free for the first 6 months, and only available DOWNTOWN

[Kevin K @ Mar 7th 2006 5:13PM]

I'm so glad this is going to happen!!! Of the current providers, they charge $30 / MB of data! CRAZY...

This thing is going to be 6 month free? SICKNESSSSS, see u in june

[Russ Matthews @ Mar 7th 2006 5:21PM]

Congratulations Toronto. And now for the waiting game. I feel the need to point out that we got the same promises here in San Francisco a very long time ago now and we STILL don't have it. Sure, Google is in talks with Earthlink to finally put in a final bid to the city, but geez... I could've done it myself by now!! ;)

[mike @ Mar 7th 2006 5:28PM]

sweet, i love this city

[russ @ Mar 7th 2006 7:57PM]

have you seen that some canadian trains (& train stations) have wireless:
http://www.viarail.ca/wirelessinternet/en_index.html

pretty cool..

[o rly @ Mar 7th 2006 8:20PM]

Does anyone research these things before posting them up? It has errors in it that a simple google query would fix.

It seems a story is e-mailed and posted quickly without being verified; I'm not sure if this is done to be "quick on the gun" or just a mistake; either way this was on /. a day ago, and other places before then.

[rada @ Mar 7th 2006 10:28PM]

Haha, a story about here in Canada and all the info is wrong. Good Job Engadget! :P

[YacozA @ Mar 8th 2006 12:53AM]

hey hey... they made a mistake.... don't get your panties in a knot....

w.e.. its all good for me... super fast internet on the go.... yesssssssssssss

[JS @ Mar 8th 2006 1:24AM]

Canada is one of the most pathetically backward 1st world countries I have ever come across.

Have you ever looked at ebay.ca? It's hilarious.

The technological infastructure in Toronto is appalling, as is the availability of decent consumer electronics. Most peoples home entertainment setups here look like shrines to the mid 80s.

[Mark @ Mar 8th 2006 5:33AM]

Two comments

1. You got all the T.O. folks' panties in a bunch. They don't like it when people show any kind of ignance towards their city. After all, to them, it's like NYC North. (lol).

2. I would LOVE for something like to happen, not only in Toronto, but Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, etc etc. Our wireless "system" which was kind of deregulated in the mid 1990s to allow for competition, is all but that these days, with monopolies again in both wireless (cell phones) and broadband access (or cable). Well, duopolies. Give me city wide wifi and I'll ditch Fido (owned by Rogers), and go skype all the way for my local comm. needs, and ditch Shaw for my broadband in a second. I'd even pay the same rates to the city if need be, just to break up these ridiculous monopolies.

PS. Don't anger T.O. people, please. The rest of us Canadians often have to suffer the brunt. ;)

[vince @ Mar 8th 2006 8:54AM]

Toronto Hydro is an electric company not a water utility.

[M @ Mar 8th 2006 12:32PM]

haha JS, whatever, anybody who thinks Toronto is less technological than the US obviously has never lived in Toronto. We fuel the technology sector of Canada. I spent 4 years in the states and they didn't even have payment by bankcard (interac as we know it), and by the time I was leaving some places were starting to get it (i.e walmart). Meanwhile, in Ontario, Interac has been around since the 90's. Anyways, whatever, typical Yankee.

[M @ Mar 8th 2006 12:32PM]

haha JS, whatever, anybody who thinks Toronto is less technological than the US obviously has never lived in Toronto. We fuel the technology sector of Canada. I spent 4 years in the states and they didn't even have payment by bankcard (interac as we know it), and by the time I was leaving some places were starting to get it (i.e walmart). Meanwhile, in Ontario, Interac has been around since the 90's. Anyways, whatever, typical Yankee.

[JS @ Mar 8th 2006 3:49PM]

No, I'm English and have lived in Toronto for the last 6 months. I'm talking in terms of life on a day to day basis, well done for having the typical Canadian chip on your shoulder and assuming I was American though.

[watership @ Mar 8th 2006 10:12PM]

>23. Doesn't anyone find it troubling that Ontario Hydro (Now called Hydro One) who has racked up 1/3 of Ontario's debt (40 of 130 Billion), is now poking their nose into technologies they know nothing about?

23, Toronto Hydro is also a Telecom. They run lit and dark fibre all over the city.

[videozine.ca @ Mar 12th 2006 11:53AM]

#23 - the article is about TORONTO Hydro - not Ontario Hydro (which doesn't exist anymore as it was broken up into smaller pieces to generate more debt, but I digress)

#34 - NYC North? No f#@%'n way - it's HOLLYWOOD NORTH, despite what those on the Wet Coast think about Vancouver.

[Damien Fox @ Mar 28th 2006 1:37PM]

Really, nobody knows for sure what Toronto Hydro is actually up to. Are they going to compete with public access hotspots like in caf? Or are they going to provide Internet to homes and businesses, using WiFi instead of the phone lines? Either way, there is not going to be free WiFi access (except for the initial six-month beta-testingReally, nobody knows for sure what Toronto Hydro is actually up to. Are they going to compete with public access hotspots like in caf? Or are they going to provide Internet to homes and businesses, using WiFi instead of the phone lines? Either way, there is not going to be free WiFi access (except for the initial six-month beta-testing at the beginning), and it's just another commercial Internet provider, except they are government-owned and have a monopoly on using our city's power poles.

Toronto Hydro's plan is going to kill other commercial hotspots, but the hotspot model is pretty well dead anyway, or has about 18 months left in it. A new generation of wide area local WiFi networks are springing up all over the place, and caf?won't have to subsidize WiFi for long. Bell, Rogers, and Telus were really slow in building their hotspots, and now they're going to pay the price,because they built the wrong technology and are using the wrong business model. Now, if they had Internet for home users and WiFi everywhere so people could use their home account across town... hey, wait! That's what we're doing!

While the city-owned paid-access WiFi network has its strengths, a free WiFi network built by people in their own neighborhoods can easily do more with less. This sort of N2N (neighbor-to-neighbor) networking is low cost, doesn't need any expensive centralized infrastructure, and can be run by its users for its users. The trick is doing it with proper security and ways for people to work together, rather than hoping that anarchy (in its best sense) will make everything work out by some accident of nature.

As McLuhan said, the medium is the message, and I think organized community-owned networks say a lot. at the beginning), and it's another commercial Internet provider, except they are government-owned and have a monopoly on using power poles.

While the city-owned paid-access WiFi network has its strengths, a free WiFi network built by people in their own neighborhoods has the potential to do more with less. This sort of N2N (neighbor-to-neighbor) networking is low cost, doesn't need any expensive centralized infrastructure, and can be run by its users for its users.

As McLuhan said, the medium is the message, and I think community-owned networks say a lot.

[Damien Fox @ Mar 28th 2006 1:46PM]

**Sorry re. above... don't know how that happened. Proper text below...**

Really, nobody knows for sure what Toronto Hydro is actually up to. Are they going to compete with public access hotspots like in caf? Or are they going to provide Internet to homes and businesses, using WiFi instead of the phone lines? Either way, there is not going to be free WiFi access (except for the initial six-month beta-testing at the beginning), and it's just another commercial Internet provider, except they are government-owned and have a monopoly on using our city's power poles.

Toronto Hydro's plan is going to kill other commercial hotspots, but the hotspot model is pretty well dead anyway, or has about 18 months left in it. A new generation of wide area local WiFi networks are springing up all over the place, and caf?won't have to subsidize WiFi for long. Bell, Rogers, and Telus were really slow in building their hotspots, and now they're going to pay the price,because they built the wrong technology and are using the wrong business model. Now, if they had Internet for home users and WiFi everywhere so people could use their home account across town... hey, wait! That's what we're doing! (Wireless Nomad Co-op)

While the city-owned paid-access WiFi network has its strengths, a free WiFi network built by people in their own neighborhoods can easily do more with less. This sort of N2N (neighbor-to-neighbor) networking is low cost, doesn't need any expensive centralized infrastructure, and can be run by its users for its users. The trick is doing it with proper security and ways for people to work together, rather than hoping that anarchy (in its best sense) will make everything work out by some accident of nature.

As McLuhan said, the medium is the message, and I think organized community-owned networks say a lot.