Jack Shandle (EE Times) stepped into the muck separating municipal Wi-Fi camps at a meeting of the Wireless Communications Alliance (WCA). 

Wireless consultant Andy Seybold said big cities will roll snakeeyes for their troubles. In the end, he says, citywide Wi-Fi networks will cost more than projections, encounter more interference and suffer from lack of system reliability.

Case in point: Philadelphia’s system was pitched as free, but is now hawked at $20 a month.

In a similar vein, anticipated obstacles caused Earthlink to tell San Diego officials its wireless signal could penetrate just 90% of the buildings and exterior walls. (No word of how such a system would work in offices with internal block walls, like mine.)

Cellular technology is moving so fast, Seybold figures, that it will erase mobile WiMAX’s current speed advantage within three years, rendering mobile WiMAX, with its reliance on multiple antennae (MIMO), an expensive and obsolete luxury.

A municipal wireless blog quickly piled on. MuniWireless sited a survey of St. Cloud, Florida subscribers: 94% said they liked it, and half believe the municipal offering is actually as good as cellular. As to the other half… What do you expect for free?

Along with St. Cloud, MuniWireless trotted out Tempe, Arizona and Riviera Beach, Florida, where, we’re told, cops absolutely love it. It’s great for disasters that knock out cell towers, too… like Katrina.

Back at the WCA meeting, consultant Monica Paolini would agree. She said mobile WiMAX works where cellular systems don’t exist, like third world countries. She also believes cell and WiMAX technologies will converge, as both are working toward using the same multiplexing protocol for signaling, along with an IP core.

I gotta ask… What about those of us plopped amidst fairly well developed cellular systems, with discrete wireless emergency networks, fiber in the ground and ubiquitous private wireless, DSL and cable coverage?