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Mobile Computing Shines in Trinidad


The Mobile Observer


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For this expedition, I went armed with a laptop equipped with Wi-Fi and
a BlackBerry 7230. As with all my travels, I needed to keep up with my
business and family as well as communicate with people in the local
area.

While on the plane heading down there, it would have been nice to have
Internet access onboard the relatively long flight. I believe that this
will eventually come to all airlines, however. In fact, Germany's
Lufthansa airline recently expanded its service on international
flights. Other airlines are beginning to follow with similar service.

Similar to my experiences in other overseas places, there were no data
ports on the phones at my hotel. Internet cafes were available in the
semi-local area, but they were difficult to reach because of the need
for a taxi and the very heavy traffic in the local area. A citywide
Wi-Fi service would have come in handy to interface my laptop with the
Internet.

In the United States, many cities are deploying metropolitan area Wi-Fi
networks. In fact, Chicago recently threw its name into the hat. In
Trinidad, around the Port of Spain and its surrounding towns, a nearby
mountain range is a perfect vantage point for illuminating much of the
area, which consists primarily of single-story buildings, with Wi-Fi
service. But I'm not sure if that will ever happen.

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