
Wi-Fi hotspot loans from Kitchener, Ont. library a Canadian first - rocky1138
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/kitchener-library-lends-portable-wifi-1.3258791
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rocky1138
Choice quote:

"There's still a large population that don't have access, in any form, to the
internet. So we believe that we're providing a service for a group of our
customers who don't have access and could use it; whether it's students
working on projects or individuals looking for work," said Chevreau. "The
library is the greatest equalizer in our society."

Choice snippet:

Patrons will be given the benefit of the doubt and limits will not be placed
on how the hot spots are used or how much data is consumed.

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voltagex_
I wonder what kind of deal the library has with the ISP. In Australia, data
overage charges from multiple people using a hotspot could bankrupt a library,
and my experience in Canada was that mobile data was even _more_ expensive

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userbinator
I'm also surprised that they're using the cell network, but hopefully this is
a relatively short-term thing and they're thinking of deploying APs with real
wired connections in the future.

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tempestn
The point is that someone can borrow the device and physically take it to
wherever they need it, so wired wouldn't really work. Of course blanketing the
whole city with public wifi would be even better, but a much larger
undertaking.

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userbinator
_There 's still a large population that don't have access, in any form, to the
internet_

I wonder if this is because free WiFi was never prevalent in that area, or if
all the security fears drove open WiFi to near-extinction? I remember several
years ago, they were _everywhere_ and it wasn't hard to find an open access
point in most populated areas.

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picardo
There has been a similar program being run by New York Public Library in the
last year. I think programs like this can make libraries relevant again.

[http://hotspot.nypl.org/](http://hotspot.nypl.org/)

