Jerusalem Goes Wireless

February 1, 2005

The program, which is the first of its kind in Israel, allows tourists and businesspeople visiting the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall and its side streets, the Rivlin-Nahalat Shiva mall, Kikar Safra, and Rechov Shlomzion Hamalka to surf the Internet and receive e-mail on their WiFi (wireless fidelity)-enabled computers. Other areas, such as Emek Refaim, the Hebrew University, government offices, schools, museums, malls, and parks, will also be unwired shortly.

The project was headed by the municipality, international chip giant Intel, IT services provider Compumat, and the nonprofit Jerusalem Business Development Corporation (JBDC). Services were also provided by Cisco Systems, Check Point Software Technologies, 012 Golden Lines, and venture-capital fund JVP.

People in the unwired “hot spots” can simply press the wireless button on their computer to surf  on this high-speed (54 megabytes per second) connection. The technology will allow visitors to access easily tourism information and will encourage executives to expand their work environments outdoors, the organizers said.

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