Information Society Watch

Jul 30, 2007, Indrajit Basu, Government Technology

The paper analyses the ongoing debate regarding government and local authorities providing broadband access as a public service, which are in direct conflict wih private service providers. It presents the recent case of the Prague's Wireless Network service provided by the municipility which was challenged by those in the Wi-Fi business as being unfair competition. The European Commission has ruled in the municipality's favour and the growing consensus seems to point towards allowing broadband access as a public service which will contribute to the growth of the information society and bridge the digital divide. While the EC decision on Prague is a landmark one, the ongoing legal case between France Telecom and the municipality of Paris regarding Paris Wi-Fi only serves to illustrate that more debate and analysis of the social and economic issues involved are necessary to arrive at an amenable solution to the problem of harmonious co-existence of public and private service providers.

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