Madison WiFi More Telco Dislocation – Maybe. Vonage Ships WiFi VOIP Handset

Glenn Fleishman:

The handset will work over hotspot networks allowing Vonage customers to use their service while roaming. Boingo and Vonage had a deal in place to test out VoIP over Wi-Fi hotspots, but it?s unclear here in the late evening how that ties together. Also, Vonage?s site doesn?t yet list the announcement, so we don?t know if they?ve partnered with various networks to ease authentication.

Skype is another option.

Tax Issues on the April Ballot?

The Wisconsin Counties Association wants all 72 counties to ask voters in April whether the state – instead of counties – should pay for the judicial and human services systems it mandates, according to Jennie Tunkieicz. Interesting, but I’m not sure that this intramural government battle is money well spent for the taxpayers.

The NSA Opens Up

Christian Davenport says that the National Security Agency is opening up and looking for small business to help in the war on terror.

“I’m looking for new ideas,” said Daniel G. Wolf, the NSA’s information assurance director. “We want to hear what you have.”
In November, the agency announced that it would pump $445,000 into the center, whose companies are at the vanguard of security technology: finding cures for bioterrorism diseases, protecting computer networks from hackers, developing software designed to find terrorists.
As the intelligence industry continues to expand since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the clandestine agency is playing a more prominent — and visible — role in the Washington region. With plans to hire 7,500 new employees over five years, the NSA, already Anne Arundel County’s largest employer, is undergoing its largest recruiting drive since the Cold War.
The agency is also increasingly opening its doors to private companies for help in developing spy technologies.