Toronto is about to become one big wireless municipal hotspot if Toronto Hydro Corp. has its way. Essentially, with smart metering on its way, the electrical company has been looking at ways to retrieve the meter information from the commercial and residential meters. It looks like Toronto Hydro has settled on Wi-Fi technology to accomplish this.
The necessary wireless transmitters will be deployed on every fourth or fifth lamp post (Toronto Hydro bought the street light system last year for $60 million CAD) to blanket the city. To recoup its deployment and maintenance costs, Toronto Hydro will offer low-cost broadband wireless access to residences and businesses. In so doing, Toronto Hydro will become a competitor to Rogers Wireless, Telus Mobility and Bell Mobility.
The service is expected to cover at least the downtown core by the end of the year.
The official announcement is expected on Tuesday.