Um levantamento feito pela empresa de avaliação de audiência de midia móvel JiWire, publicado pela revista The Economist, revelou que pessoas que viajam a negócios pelo mundo têm hoje uma oferta de mais de 286 mil hotspots de WiFi, comparado com os 53.700 de cinco anos atrás. Na lista dos 10 países com maior oferta de hotspots, os Estados Unidos, país pioneiro na difusão de redes de comunicação por banda larga, continua em primeiro lugar, mas usando métricas individuais a Suécia e a Inglaterra apresentam melhores taxas de qualidade de sinal. A China também está ampliando consideravelmente suas redes o mesmo acontecendo com a Coréia do Sul. O Brasil nem é citado na matéria. Veja abaixo o gráfico.

Ontem, 17/11, durante o primeiro dia de discussão do Fórum Internacional da Cultura Digital Brasileira que está acontecendo na Cinemateca Brasileira, em São Paulo, o atraso do Brasil nesse campo ficou evidente.

Acompanhe as conferências de hoje aqui. Veja no Slideshare a apresentação de ontem do sociólogo e membro da comunidade do software livre, Sergio Amadeu da Silveira (http://twitter.com/samadeu), com destaque para os bem sucedidos projetos de redes WiFi gratuitas nos municípios brasileiros de Quissamã, Sud Mennucci e Tapira. E leia no Guia das Cidades Digitais sobre outras experiências de sucesso.

As you may know, digital out-of-home is not limited to terrestrial networks.  In-flight advertising has proven an excellent medium for advertisers to target their audience, taking advantage of the captive environment better than any other place based forum. Companies like Brand Connections, which operates the in-flight TV networks for American Airlines and United Airlines, can integrate TV advertising with product sampling and hospitality-related venues such as airport hotels and lounges.  Other airlines are outfitting their terminals with Internet, entertainment, and other services, such as JetBlue’s latest 200 screen buildout at JFK airport which sees an average traffic of 50,000 people per day.

The latest trend in in-flight advertising is free ad-supported internet access through WiFi, a domain JiWire has taken the lead on for Southwest and Alaska Airlines.

The need is clear: the Internet requires a new type of ad for the next stage of Web 2.0 (or Web 3.0, you attach the number).

An online campaign from JiWire rewards people with Wi-Fi access

Display ads work well for search engines and adequately for static Web sites. But real-time, interactive social networks and video sites require something different.

Companies such as Facebook, Twitter and You Tube continue to experiment. You Tube, in fact, claims it is finally making some progress. Users have begun to accept pre-roll ads, and the site’s search pages are soaking up an inventory of more traditional postings.

Experimentation outside the majors continues. JiWire, a company that earns its living selling ads at Wi-Fi hot spots, is rolling out an ad that promises an immediate payback

In short, not only is it potentially lucrative for the advertisers and JiWire, it rewards consumers – who are typically business travelers – killing time in an airport or hotel. If they watch a 30-second spot, they get 20 minutes or so of free Internet access.

JiWire, which groups the ads under its Ads for Access program, says it ran a test campaign for Hyatt Place hotels in the first quarter. One third of people attempting to go online clicked on the ad and 68 percent of those watched the 30-second viewing, which included a virtual tour of a hotel, says David Staas, senior vice president of marketing.

“We think that’s exceptional,” compared with the 0.1 percent conversion rate of a typical Internet ad, says Staas. The test was conducted at major airports in the U.S., including JFK and O’Hare.

Among the ads’ big advantages: advertisers got the attention of consumer for an extended period of time.

JiWire says more campaigns are prepared to roll out. While the ads may prove to be successful brand awareness tools, they accomplish a second goal. They engages consumers at a time when many people are adept at ignoring the ads they see as they search for information or conduct business.

Rewarding consumers for their time spent may be the new formula advertisers have been looking for.  It will be interesting to see how it does.

Kosmix Raised $20 Million In Fourth Round — Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of vertical search engines based on specific topics, has raised $20 million in fourth-round funding. Time Warner led the round, and was joined by return backers DAG Ventures, Accel Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

RiseSmart Raised $3 Million In Series A — Sunnyvale, Calif.-based provider of job search and outplacement services via the Web, has raised $3 million in Series A funding from Norwest Venture Partners.

JiWire Raised $11.1 Million In Series B — San Francisco-based WiFi advertising network, has raised around $11.1 million in Series B-1 funding, according to a regulatory filing. It also sold another $1.53 million of Series B warrants, which could be converted into around $3.88 million of preferred stock. Comcast Interactive Capital came aboard as a new investor, with CIC principal David Horowitz joining the JiWire board of directors. JiWire had previously raised around $11.5 million, from firms like Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DFJ Frontier, CNet and Panorama Capital.

Roost Inc Raised $8 Million In Series B — The San Francisco-based search engine for residential real estate has raised $8 million in Series B funding. Shasta Ventures led the round, and was joined by return backers General Catalyst Partners, The Cross Country Group LLC and Geolo Capital.

Tumblr Raised $4.5 Million In Series B — The New York-based social networking and online publishing platform, has raised $4.5 million in Series B Financing. The round was led by Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital.

SnapMyLife Raised $5 Million — The photo sharing site based in Needham, Mass., has raised $5 million led by current investors North Bridge Venture Partners and Carmel Ventures. The company is owneed by Mobicious, Inc.

If you go into “town” with any frequency you’ve probably noticed that many businesses, especially retailers and restaurants, are advertising that they offer free or low-cost WiFi to their clientele. The marketing scheme behind this may seem transparent…if you can offer the customer a free service and they’ll spend more time in your store which will translate to more merchandise purchased. I believe that the initiative behind this customer “perk” is to accomplish more than to just generate a few more sales. I will use Ukrop’s grocery and McDonald’s to examine the ”We have WiFi” phenomenon.

For a couple of years Ukrop’s grocery has offered WiFi in their cafe area. Ukrop’s company mission is ultimately customer and community service. Offering free Wifi in their cafe was just one more way to offer the ultimate customer experience. WiFi was a very low cost addition to all of their other services such as dry cleaning, bag boys that carry your groceries for you, a fully stocked florist, catering, banking, and a restaurant. I think the point of all of their services, including the WiFi is to build a very flexible, accommodating reputation for families and businesses. Although I’m not sure of the actual dollar value that offering WiFi has added to their bottom line, I do know that Ukrop’s customers now go there not only to grocery shop, but to conduct business meetings, on-line business and study groups because of the WiFi capabilities. In essence, adding WiFi has created more business for them in their off peak times, because people that would have gone somewhere such as a library or Internet cafe to do business can go to their neighborhood Ukrop’s.

McDonald’s initiative for offering WiFi is a different scenario. This company is known for consistency and fast food, not necessarily ultimate customer service. The fact is that McDonald’s is trying to change its brand to to be more chic and customer service related. They have modernized a lot of their older restaurants, they are incorporating coffee bars within the restaurant, and they are offering WiFi. They are using WiFi as a tool to reach out to a new clientele and to also let their old clientele know that they are evolving into a more customer friendly environment.

Although their specific initiatives may be different, outfits that offer free or low-cost WiFi to their customers are trying to potray that they cater to the tech savvy, but mostly that they are in tune with their customer’s needs. WiFi availiablity helps businesses build stronger loyalty from their customers, both family and business.

JiWire.Com is a website that has a fairly current directory of all WiFi hotspot across the globe. Once you find your area you can even see which locations are free and how other customers rate the connections and service speed. http://www.jiwire.com/

Looking to use Wifi for free, here are a few directories that may help

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

You can also get free Wifi in Mcdonalds

Link

and Wetherspoons

Link

and in London

Link

PLATFORM FOR PRESIDENT: FREE WI-FI

As provided by Wired, the above map represents free Wi-Fi locations across the United States as they exist today or are under construction. Click on the image above for a closer look.

I have been a huge supporter of free ad-supported Wi-Fi for some time now. After watching debate after democratic nominee debate focused on the war efforts in Iraq and universal health care, I’d love a change of direction.

Free Wi-Fi

Providing free municipality-wide Wi-Fi would empower those that need a different perspective and a push in the right direction. The internet allows access to an endless stream of information as well as groups of people with thoughts on just about any topic.

Free Wi-Fi is a service not only facilitating a community of techno-enabled; it’s also a service enabling the underprivileged. The cost of a computer has fallen drastically while the monthly broadband subscription price has remained high, in relation to what low income families can afford. Below is an example of high design meets low cost in the XO laptop created specifically for children in impoverished nations as well as right here at home.

XO Laptop

The Beauty of Free Wi-Fi

Everyone benefits. Advertisers benefit from a large audience and targeting abilities previously not available. The public benefits from the free service.

The Red Tape

Government bureaucracy insanity.

Solutions for Now

Below are a few sites that allow users to quickly find neighboring free Wi-Fi access points. Hey Citysearch and Yelp! Could you go ahead and add this feature to your ratings system? Thanks. For more information on the digital divide, click here.

I Love Free WiFi

Great site for offering the more coffee cup experience as opposed to the park/hotel experience.

gWiFi

Wi-Fi locations are a bit sparse but I like the easy interface.

Meraki

I commend Meraki for offering Wi-Fi on a mesh network rather than through stand alone Wi-Fi access points. This mesh network is cheaper than Google’s original plan to offer city-wide free Wi-Fi. Now the only lingering question will be: Will local advertising revenue support the cost associated with establishing citywide Wi-Fi? Well, San Francisco is a great market to test this out in.

JiWire

Nice set of locations but I prefer seeing this on a map rather than as a list.

Frankly, the killer app in locating a free Wi-Fi network is most likely toting around an iPhone and selecting a network whenever your beloved friend asks you if you’d like to. Thank you iPhone. That said, many can’t afford an iPhone for locating access and therefore a city-wide solution is certainly of value to so many.  If someone could focus on empowering the masses by offering the information to lead them there, they’d have my vote.

Volete scoprire quali sono gli hot spot wi-fi gratuiti vicini a casa vostra o al vostro ufficio? Ecco alcuni siti che potrebbero esservi utili.
Iniziamo da JiWire che presenta una directory a livello mondiale(Italia inclusa) di hot spot gratuiti e non presenti in locali, alberghi e condivisi da utenti FON.
Focalizzandoci sul solo territorio nostrano troviamo il motore di ricerca Hotspots wi-fi Italia che per il momento copre il territorio delle maggiori città italiane.

Da oggi è online il nuovo sito del ministero delle telecomunicazioni.

Fra le varie sezioni , si trova anche un elenco scaricabile in pdf o xls con tutti gli hotspot attivi nel territorio italiano. Se dal link si scopre che solo jiwire , boingo e tin.it son menzionati , una bella sorpresa si ha leggendo alla fine del documento.

Una nota a parte merita la “FON Community” i cui Hotspots non sono stati riportati ma sono individuabili all’indirizzo http://maps.fon.com/. Nato in Spagna il progetto nel tempo ha attraversato notevoli cambiamenti diventando una iniziativa commerciale su scala mondiale. Mira ad una copertura del territorio in banda larga wireless su base collaborativa trasformando ogni associato in un “hot spot” Wi-Fi condividendo parte della propria connessione ADSL flat e ottenendo accesso gratis nei FON spots della Community nel mondo. ATTENZIONE però, il “Codice delle Comunicazioni Elettroniche” meglio noto come “Legge Gasparri” stabilisce che le tecnologie wireless, ed in particolare le IEEE 802.11a/b/g, meglio note con il nome commerciale di “WiFi”, possano essere usate solo in ambienti privati, e non devono essere utilizzate od anche solo attraversare suolo pubblico. Inoltre per fornire accesso commerciale a terzi è necessario essere a tutti gli effetti degli ISP. Un “Fonero”, così vengono chiamati gli appartenenti alla “FON Community”, viola con certezza, se non tutti e due i punti, senz’altro il primo inoltre molti contratti ADSL vietano la rivendita e la cessione a terzi del servizio. C’è poi il “Decreto Pisanu” che obbliga, chiunque fornisca accesso pubblico a reti telematiche, ad identificare gli utenti ed a conservare registrazione degli accessi. Stando a quanto dichiarato da FON la Community si è molto ampliata ma a tutt’oggi non risultano precisate, in Italia, né lo status legale di Fon né le relative responsabilità legali dei “Foneros” italiani.

Ora , lasciamo perdere che boingo ha una partnership con fon e che quindi anche gli hotspot di fon meriterebbero di essere inseriti nella lista , ma quello che interessa maggiormente è l’ambiguità del messaggio.

Da una parte sembra che ci sia un appoggio non detto , quasi una simpatia verso Fon , e dall’altra una precisazione che lo status legale di questo network wifi è assolutamente borderline , con un piede nell’illegalità.

Che si stia muovendo qualcosa ?

via Pandemia

Free WiFi is an attractive offer, even when it’s paid for by advertising. Some ad-supported networks include free-hotspot.com in several countries, AnchorFree in San Francisco, Cafés Wi-Fi in Paris, Google Wi-Fi in Mountain View, California, and Metrofi in Portland, Oregon, Aurora, Illinois, and California’s Silicon Valley.

Earlier this week, we interviewed David Blumenfeld, VP of Marketing for JiWire, the leading advertising network for WiFi hotspots and WiMAX networks. Their website directory lists more than 148,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in 134 countries. Though the company is known primarily for its WiFi involvement, Blumenfield says that JiWire’s ad network is “spectrum agnostic,” including WiMAX, Femto cells, Fixed-Mobile Convergence and other technologies. The company works with more than 20 networks, in hotels, airports, cafes and municipalities.

Blumenfeld does not see a trend away from the ad-supported approach to municipal WiFi networks. “To the contrary,” he says, “municipal networks are just discovering the possibilities of both national and location-driven advertising on their networks as a way to subsidize access fees.” He reports that at this week’s MuniWireless trade show in Boston, both WiFi operators and municipalities were more interested than ever in leveraging advertising revenues to support the long term viability of their networks.

Of course, most customers don’t actually look forward to advertising, and advertising is not yet part of some free Wi-Fi networks such as FON, Whisher, and WeFi. Give them time, suggests Blumenfeld. “Advertising isn’t a viable model until there is a critical mass of users to support it… FON is actually testing various advertising ideas.”

JiWire’s advertisers include premier brands including Microsoft, Charles Schwab, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, Land Rover, Expedia, and others. Blumenfeld says, “We’re seeing click rates 2-3 times higher than the normal Internet average.”

- Michael M