PUBLIC INTERNET ACCESS FUTURES

摘要

Historically, access to a telephone was all that was needed to be included in the world of business and social communication. People unable to afford a telephone at home or those who were away from home used public payphones. Access to the Internet has now become a vital part of business and private life throughout the world. Inability to access the Internet can now be seriously socially excluding and can prevent people from fully participating in a wide range of vital eGovernment, eHealth, communication and financial services. Public provision of Internet access mirrors public provision of payphones in that it is becoming an essential requirement for those that do not have Internet access at home or in the office or for people who are temporarily away from their usual Internet facilities. Despite the wide range of personal and office fixed and mobile internet solutions, this paper demonstrates that there is a need for a variety of different forms of publicly available Internet facilities. These include Internet workstations provided in public buildings, commercially run Internet cafes in city centres and airports, Internet connected Information Kiosks and publicly available Wi-Fi hot spots. This paper, and work currently being done by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), show how public internet access facilities can be made more accessible, easier to locate, more attractive and, as a consequence, more likely to be popular and hence sustainable in the - long-term.