Fast forward

Turning ambulances into mobile emergency rooms, getting real time information on public transportation schedules or obtaining remote medical care through personal digital assistants (PDAs) are no longer futuristic scenarios for people in Jiading district in northwestern Shanghai.

Jiading is becoming the first large suburban area to go wireless on the mainland. With help of the burgeoning technologies, such as Mesh-WiFi and Wimax, the public space in Jiading will be covered with high-speed wireless Internet access by the end of 2009.

First 'wireless town'

"Bus No 1 is 2,050 m away," the electronic bulletin at the terminal of Jiading's public transportation center reads as it specifically updates the bus schedules. Providing exact positions and arrival times of transportation is part of the "wireless city" plan.

By equipping street lights, traffic lights and other city structures with base transceiver stations (BTS) through a combination of Mesh-WiFi and WiMax technologies, outdoor areas of Jiading district will soon be covered with wireless Internet access supporting all WiFi-ready laptops, PDAs and cell phones.

In 2006, when the Shanghai municipal government was planning three "new towns" in suburban areas, "intellectualized" and "ecological" were two buzzwords designed for the Jiading district where the district government decided to build a wireless network.

According to a three-phase construction plan Jiading district will be covered with wireless Internet access by the end of 2008 and by the end of 2009 a total of 463 sq m of Jiading's outdoor spaces will have the full Internet coverage.

Prior to the 2007 Special Olympics in Shanghai, BTS were installed at Jiading Stadium and the surrounding areas for a trial wireless program. Suppliers such as Cisco, Nortel, Huawei, and 3Com took part in the experiment with wireless businesses, including webpage browsing, video surveillance, video on demand and voice communication.

"The wireless city plan will achieve benefits both socially and economically," the Economic Observer quoted Hong Peijun, Party chief of the information committee of Jiading district, as saying.

Winning the bid

In 2006, the Jiading district government invited public bids for construction plan of the wireless town. Hi-tech manufacturers including Cisco, Nortel, Huawei, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and telecommunication operators such as China Telecom and China Unicom participated the bidding. But CECT-ChinaComm Communications Co Ltd (CECT-ChinaComm), a telecom operator focusing on broadband wireless services, became the government's major partner.

According to its agreement with the government, CECT-ChinaComm will pay for most of the 200-million-yuan investment and be responsible for the network's construction. When the construction is finished, CECT-ChinaComm will own the exclusive operation rights for the network. The district government also promises to purchase part of the service to ensure CECT-ChinaComm's economic returns.

This business mode is in line with most of wireless city construction plans all over the world, that is; instead of investing in the plan, the government signs a contract with an operator who then profits through the network services.

Though CECT-ChinaComm won the bid, it still faces the dilemma of whether to charge for its wireless service or not: How can CECT-ChinaComm earn back its huge investment through free service? Or if it charges, how can it ensure that customers will choose WiFi over other wireless Internet services such as 3G network, which has been available in trial programs in eight cities including Beijing and Shanghai since April 1.

Shanghai plan

Shanghai boasts a solid base for a citywide wireless network. As the backbone of China Net, it has an international output capacity reaching 50 G, the country's largest. This year will also mark the launch of a new trans-Pacific fiber optic cable (TPE) with a capacity of 640 G. The number of broadband subscribers will reach 3 million in 2008.

The city's wireless hotspots have expanded to cover about 100 hotels and restaurants and Shanghai officials plan to soon add another 2,000 network access spots in the city's busy commercial districts such as Xujiahui and Pudong.

The concept of a wireless city has expanded since Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States laid out its plan for a wireless city in 2004. Now more than 600 cities all over the world had realized wireless Internet coverage and Singapore is even planning for a "wireless country". The wave has now arrived at the Chinese mainland, with major cities besides Shanghai, such as Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, also planning for widespread wireless service.

(China Daily 04/07/2008 page10)