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i360 tower could beam wi-fi
4:08pm Thursday 8th May 2008
A campaign is under way to use the i360 tower to provide free internet access for up to a million people.
Businessman Tony Jones, of the Seven Dials, Brighton, wants the 172m tourist attraction to be used as a major communication hub.
Mr Jones has launched a bid to secure 500 supporters before he contacts developers and planning authorities about his proposals for the tower planned for the former entrance to the West Pier, Brighton.
He says he has the expertise and contacts to take the wi-fi idea further and will create a non-profit organisation to run the enterprise.
Mr Jones, 40, said: "All in Brighton and Hove are going to be blessed, in the not-too-distant future, with the construction of the i360 Tower.
"I don't have an objection to it so long as the tower is built well and sympathetic to its location and surroundings."
"However, what I am aware of is that once this new landmark is built, the city will be overlooked by the i360 and all its visitors.
"My proposal is that in return for allowing the public to look down upon our gardens, terraces, balconies, parks, windows and streets, the tower serves a purpose for us."
He is seeking a free for life, publicly run wireless internet connection that will cover a 30-mile radius including Eastbourne, Crawley and Worthing.
Mr Jones has set up a group on social networking website Facebook to gather support.
He said: "This is a new idea but judging by the reactions I seem to be getting I think it will popular and add a local value to the i360.
"I have the resources to take this further but it will purely be driven by public reaction and support.
"There are a number of places in the world that have public or civic wide wi-max networks, sometimes called 4G networks, and there's no reason why Brighton can't be the same."
A trial is under way in Maidstone, Kent, where 75,000 people and 4,500 people within a 7.5sqkm area are benefiting from Britain's first mobile wi-max network.
Mr Jones added: "I don't think it's a big ask for the developers, planners and construction engineers to include the facility to allow a fibre optic line to the foot of the tower, a cable conduit to the top of the tower, enough space for a switching room and a bracket to attach a transmitter aerial.
"This has the benefit of giving something back to the community and acting as a gift for becoming a new addition to the skyline."
Marks Barfield, the firm behind the i360, declined to comment.
Brighton and Hove City Council is already considering installing a wi-fi network covering central Brighton.
The service would allow everyone from commuters on buses to tourists in city parks to log on to the internet using wireless devices.
What do you think of the wi-fi idea? Have your say below.
Your Say YourArgus
norm, hove says...
4:33pm Thu 8 May 08
JP, South says...
4:37pm Thu 8 May 08
Secondly, to SM, good idea, can't think of a suitable tower thou? Anyway maybe the fishes want to watch YouTube?
SS, Brighton says...
4:38pm Thu 8 May 08
andy, worthing says...
4:41pm Thu 8 May 08
for £10 a month you can get a mobile broadband 'dongle' from any of the networks so you are not having to rely on hot spots.
Amanda Jane, Brighton says...
4:55pm Thu 8 May 08
sm said: Wouldn't it be better placed inland ???
sm's comments might be valid. After all, water is known to interfere with wireless signals.
dave, out at sea says...
5:02pm Thu 8 May 08
andy wrote:that is not free!?!?!?
Why wait for £10 a month you can get a mobile broadband 'dongle' from any of the networks so you are not having to rely on hot spots.
Bradders, Brighton says...
5:05pm Thu 8 May 08
sm wrote:Are you ever pleased with anything? Just enjoy the free stuff you miserable sod.
Wouldn't it be better placed inland ??? After all, what's the point of having a 30 mile radius on it when 30 miles the other way is all water. Daft. And I my go and join his facebook thing and tell him that.
David, Hove says...
5:12pm Thu 8 May 08
another Dave, Brighton says...
5:28pm Thu 8 May 08
The whole thing'll end up just like the post office tower with a corporate restaurant at the top and no public access for security reasons.
Boo, baa humbug.
Ban access to the beach anyway as people litter it and dogs mess on it.
Rubbish idea
Major Blyth-Smith, 3rd Foot and Mouth, says...
5:32pm Thu 8 May 08
And remember if big corporations, like starbucks, which i notice have hidden their building works now by keeping the door closed so you can't see what they're upto, can just ignore the planning process, they also have the big lawyers to bugger up the planning process
Flat Foot Soozie, Brunswick Square says...
5:42pm Thu 8 May 08
Anybodu can call himself a "businessman" but there is nothing in the article to say what he does. Just vague stuff about his contacts.
The whole thing sounds more like a PR stunt to promote himself.
and it is doubtful that the tower will go away, what with the inherent costs and low returns compounded by the credit crunch. And in your dreams if you think this is ever going to fund a new Pier.
David, brighton says...
5:56pm Thu 8 May 08
sm, says...
6:10pm Thu 8 May 08
The rather large radio mast at Heathfield, Crowborough Beacon, Jack and Jill windmill.
for starters.
besides, it'll never happen, because the tower won't ever happen.
Mary Hinge, Brighton says...
6:15pm Thu 8 May 08
"From the top of the i360 on the one side you can see er.... sea, and on the other the roof of the Brighton Centre and crack alley. Ooooh look there are some prossies and some drunks getting happy slapped".
Or perhaps more likely, "oh look it's misty, and you can't see er.... anything".
Bring it on!! We'll be the laughing stock of Europe!!!
Les Froggy, says...
6:19pm Thu 8 May 08
Mary Hinge wrote:well apart from the Sea and the Brighton Centre, pretty much what you can see from the top of the Eiffel Tower then.
I can just see it now.
"From the top of the i360 on the one side you can see er.... sea, and on the other the roof of the Brighton Centre and crack alley. Ooooh look there are some prossies and some drunks getting happy slapped".
Or perhaps more likely, "oh look it's misty, and you can't see er.... anything".
Bring it on!! We'll be the laughing stock of Europe!!!
flange, Brighton says...
6:23pm Thu 8 May 08
sm wrote:I can only guess that sm is an abbreviation for SIMPLETON. If you are so sure of your own ideas then get busy and stop sticking fingers up to others with more get up and go than you obviously haven't.
Wouldn\'t it be better placed inland ??? After all, what\'s the point of having a 30 mile radius on it when 30 miles the other way is all water. Daft. And I my go and join his facebook thing and tell him that.
No, Way says...
6:25pm Thu 8 May 08
plus, a hotspot of that size will be untraceable to a particular computer easily for paedos and fraudsters rejoice!!
This is not an idea that has been thought through entirely...
tim, bn1 says...
6:26pm Thu 8 May 08
I360 Fan!, Brighton says...
6:40pm Thu 8 May 08
No wrote:1. there are plans to run a fibre cable up the I360 so the speed would be a LOT faster than 2MB.
great, free wi-fi used by all of Brighton. The Argus website is slow at the best of times, can you imagine downloading the rest of the internet at 1kbps due to everyone using the 2mb connection (yes, that'll all they'll allow otherwise it'll slow EVERYTHING up)???????? plus, a hotspot of that size will be untraceable to a particular computer easily for paedos and fraudsters rejoice!! This is not an idea that has been thought through entirely...
2. I can imagine that to use the service that you will have to register an address within the radius to combat the risk of unsavoury use.
reg moores, Brighton says...
7:13pm Thu 8 May 08
Leg11, Brighton says...
7:21pm Thu 8 May 08
No wrote:I'm on a wi-fi service at the marina which peaks at 54mbs but mostly runs at 12 or 24mbs so where do you get this info that it will only be a 2mbs connection? Or are we slowing the rest of the marina down? It is a good idea and FREE!!!! But still there are moaners!! As for law breakers wi-fi is not annonymous and they find ways of manipulating systems whatever they are, or do you think we should all be banned from using computers, cameras, televisions, magazines etc just because someone at sometime has abused all these items. Oh I forgot you belong to the ban it all, hang them all section of the Argus's readership!
great, free wi-fi used by all of Brighton. The Argus website is slow at the best of times, can you imagine downloading the rest of the internet at 1kbps due to everyone using the 2mb connection (yes, that\'ll all they\'ll allow otherwise it\'ll slow EVERYTHING up)????????
plus, a hotspot of that size will be untraceable to a particular computer easily for paedos and fraudsters rejoice!!
This is not an idea that has been thought through entirely...
caeos, says...
7:51pm Thu 8 May 08
Barry, Walsingham Road says...
8:23pm Thu 8 May 08
The courts will be clogged for years with compensation claims.
I gather the term is known as compo.
wifi-user, says...
6:27am Fri 9 May 08
Noone else will aquire useable Internet access except in the immediate vicinity of the tower. The tower height is twice the distance of typical wifi range in the outdoors, but there would be some useable wifi if the antennas were directional, pointing straight down, and not at the tower's top (particularly, not above that suspended disc).
There is no way that 1 Million people will be served by transmission from this tower, unless they place 10 thousand to 100 thousand separate transcievers there at once, and there aren't nearly enough separate channels available to keep them from crosstalking like hell.
I don't think that the tower's location, on the shore of a body of water, will affect the wifi much, though it could certainly be a strong source of energy-absorbing humidity.
Conclusion: anyone who considers this tower for providing community wifi has cooked eggs for brains.
Flat Foot Soozie, Brunswick Square says...
9:22am Fri 9 May 08
Big Trucker, UK says...
9:45am Fri 9 May 08
The only answer would be to have a parabolic dish bigger than a Sky dish on the side of your house. Other than that then repeaters are needed and that then defeats the purpose of using the tower in the first place.
For a business man his plan is seriously flawed. Anyone thinking a single tower can serve up a signal to the whole of Brighton is opening up a huge can of failure.
rick, sussex says...
9:55am Fri 9 May 08
tobi, brighton says...
10:45am Fri 9 May 08
Flat Foot Soozie wrote:zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
What are this geezer's credentials? Anybodu can call himself a "businessman" but there is nothing in the article to say what he does. Just vague stuff about his contacts. The whole thing sounds more like a PR stunt to promote himself. and it is doubtful that the tower will go away, what with the inherent costs and low returns compounded by the credit crunch. And in your dreams if you think this is ever going to fund a new Pier.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
No, Way says...
10:52am Fri 9 May 08
I360 Fan! wrote:1) but there would still be hundred/thousands of people using it, therefore even with a 24mb connection it'll be the equiv. of 14k dial-up
No wrote:1. there are plans to run a fibre cable up the I360 so the speed would be a LOT faster than 2MB.
great, free wi-fi used by all of Brighton. The Argus website is slow at the best of times, can you imagine downloading the rest of the internet at 1kbps due to everyone using the 2mb connection (yes, that'll all they'll allow otherwise it'll slow EVERYTHING up)???????? plus, a hotspot of that size will be untraceable to a particular computer easily for paedos and fraudsters rejoice!! This is not an idea that has been thought through entirely...
2. I can imagine that to use the service that you will have to register an address within the radius to combat the risk of unsavoury use.
2) ...because that can't be faked...
Legs11, Brighton says...
10:52am Fri 9 May 08
sm, says...
2:39pm Fri 9 May 08
Also, it cannot prevent the FACT that of their 160 mile diameter of coverage, 1/2 of it is uninhabited water.
Now go back to calling those numbers you nimwit.
bob, lewes says...
2:57pm Fri 9 May 08
Legs11, Brighton says...
5:51pm Fri 9 May 08
Wayne, Brighton says...
6:19pm Fri 9 May 08
Legs11, Brighton says...
6:53pm Fri 9 May 08
caeos, says...
10:52pm Fri 9 May 08
wifi-user wrote:This post originally appeared on the fon.com English forums which try an promote free wifi by AustiTx.
Noone who is .2-15 miles from the tower will aquire Internet access unless there are a pair of point-to-point antennas set up just for them.
Noone else will aquire useable Internet access except in the immediate vicinity of the tower. The tower height is twice the distance of typical wifi range in the outdoors, but there would be some useable wifi if the antennas were directional, pointing straight down, and not at the tower's top (particularly, not above that suspended disc).
There is no way that 1 Million people will be served by transmission from this tower, unless they place 10 thousand to 100 thousand separate transcievers there at once, and there aren't nearly enough separate channels available to keep them from crosstalking like hell.
I don't think that the tower's location, on the shore of a body of water, will affect the wifi much, though it could certainly be a strong source of energy-absorbing humidity.
Conclusion: anyone who considers this tower for providing community wifi has cooked eggs for brains.
jason the seagull, hove says...
7:16pm Sat 10 May 08
Big Trucker, UK says...
10:05pm Sat 10 May 08
the cnut, says...
12:05pm Tue 13 May 08
Rob, Brighton says...
2:45pm Tue 3 Jun 08
org/wiki/Network_neu
trality
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sm, says...
4:21pm Thu 8 May 08
After all, what's the point of having a 30 mile radius on it when 30 miles the other way is all water.
Daft.
And I my go and join his facebook thing and tell him that.