Public Wi-Fi as Urban Infrastructure - the Australian Case

本研究将公共提供的Wi-Fi定位为一种城市和市政基础设施，并询问地方政府是否有理由对公共Wi-Fi进行公共投资。澳大利亚在提供公共无线互联网接入方面落后于世界上许多国家，但投资的激增正在缩小这一差距。这项基于实地的研究旨在通过检查网络使用的社会、经济和公民影响来评估公共Wi-Fi提供的理由。本项目旨在填补有关公共Wi-Fi网络投资理由、用途和影响的主要经验和知识空白，并为城市和通信政策的制定提供信息。

This research positions publicly provided Wi-Fi as a type of urban and civic infrastructure and asks whether there is a sound case for public investment in public Wi-Fi by local governments. Australia lags behind much of the world in providing public wireless internet access, but a surge of investment is closing the gap. This field-based research aims to appraise rationales for public Wi-Fi provision by examining the social, economic and civic impacts of network use. This project aims to fill major empirical and knowledge gaps about investment rationales, uses, and impacts of public Wi-Fi networks, and inform development of urban and communications policies.