Spanish Government Built A Nationwide Wireless Network - 2005-12-14
Red.es, Spain's state-owned agency for Information Society Development, has announced the completion of the first phase in bringing wireless broadband to the entire country. Wireless technology company Nomadix has deployed the network in rural public schools, libraries and internet access centres, and now the Red.es network is expanding to areas with higher population density.
The nationwide wireless network is central to the Spanish government’s Avanza Plan, an initiative for 2006-2010 to bring the various regions of Spain into compliance with i2010, the EU's initiative to ensure that Europe's governments, businesses, and citizens make the best use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The Avanza Plan seeks to bridge the digital divide in the country and ensure that Spain's ICT standards evolve with the rest of the EU.
The Red.es, a Wi-fi network uses Nomadix' public-access gateways which operate the Nomadix Service Engine (NSE). The NSE software is customisable, allowing Red.es to make changes to the network as needed.
As wireless technologies have become increasingly reliable, more organisations have turned to wireless solutions for large-scale public internet access. The city of New Orleans, for example, last month launched a city-wide wireless network which in the future could serve as an emergency communications network in the event of another disaster. Wireless networks save organisations the cost of deploying and maintaining a large number of fixed lines which are more susceptible to physical damages like those suffered in Hurricane Katrina.
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