WiMax and Community Broadband

In 2006, Sprint Nextel along with Clearwire announced that it would be investing $3 billion dollars over the following two years to build out its so-called "fourth generation" (4G) network or WiMAx. The proposed network was to cover up to two miles from one base station and deliver speeds of up to 12 Mbps.
Just this month Sprint Nextel and Clearwire have canceled their join agreement to deploy WiMax. The two companies had problems finalizing complex terms of the deal and Sprint Nextel has struggled recently.
Will Sprint go forward with Clearwire? Is this a set back for high-speed wireless internet connections? Is WiMax Dead? Will another player come in to fill this need?

Urban Surveillance

Urban video surveillance is being deployed widely in both large and small European communities and is quickly spreading in North America. Many of you are familiar with cameras set atop traffic signals. Video surveillance is basically the same technology, but deployed in strategic locations throughout cities, parks, or industrial areas and can be simple are extremely sophisticated. Large cities such as New York and London already have cutting-edge surveillance systems. If this technology has not yet arrived in your community, planners can get ahead of this trend by becoming conversant in urban surveillance technology and how this technology can impact your planning departments and its regulations. Such considerations may include:

Camera type (zoom, resolution)
Camera placement
Number and types of cameras
Zoning regulations
Municipal codes
Infrastructure usage
Comprehensive Plans
Community Aesthetics
Privacy issues

Welcome to the Urban Tech Guy Blog

Welcome to the Urban Tech Guy Blog. This site will bring the most current information about technologies for the built environment. It will focus on emerging technologies that can be deployed in communities, cities, and towns. The Blog's overall objective is to keep community decision makers abreast of new technologies. It is my hope that if you are an urban planner, designer, developer, government official, or technology vendor, you will find the information here useful.

Look for articles on topics ranging from urban broadband to urban RFID to appear weekly on this Blog.