Lo-call Nodes Enhance Local Internet Services

KILKENNY -- People visiting Kilkenny need to know how they can set up and use high-speed data services in hotel rooms, conference venues and on the street. We have Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, American, Australian, Canadian, German, French, Dutch, Romanian, Albanian, Nigerian, Lithuanian, South African, and Flemish here because I have seen all these nationalities strolling through the Kilkenny Castle last week. Plus the token Scot, Brit, and Kerryman. All of them need to know the least expensive means of business communications in the city.

My fact sheet would contain the following info:

How to make the least expensive call to the States.

How to reach a low-cost international voice service.

Local numbers for Internet access.

How to configure an Internet phone in the hotel room.

Where to find a VoIP phone.

Where to rent space containing a router.

Facts about pre-paid SIM cards.

Where to borrow a SIM-free mobile phone.

As we move into a realm where voice is data, we will recognise that our need to pay for dedicated voice circuits revolves around completing emergency calls. I would never trust my VoIP desk phone to function in a critical 911 situation. What casualty unit or disaster response team considers communications as the place to trim costs? Check them out and you will find frequency-swtiching, interference-smart dedicated voice circuits.

But most traveling into Kilkenny on business just need to keep their expenses under control. And for them, we need a comms factsheet.

---

Dan Gillmor -- "Defining Local in the Internet Age"
x_ref17