• Wifi Hotspots Austin Texas

South by Southwest now has its very own controversy. And it involves homeless people employed as, yes, wi-fi hotspots.

Barrington Oaks, Austin, 78759B B Rover's Cafe & Pub,Water Tank,Black Bart Books,Capital Metro Transit Pavilion Park & Ride,,Wi-Fi, wifi, wireless, Internet, free, public, wifi finder, wireless guide, hotspot, hotspots, free hotspots wifi, mobile, broadband, DSL, wifi hotspots, public free wifi, connection, laptop, wireless internet,. Mar 12, 2012. A marketing agency touched off a wave of criticism and debate when it hired members of the local homeless population to walk around carrying mobile Wi-Fi devices, offering conferencegoers Internet access in exchange for donations. BBH Labs, the innovation unit of the international marketing agency. Single Hotspot, Featured Hotspot, Multiple Hotspots. Hotspots near me. Advanced search. Enter your search criteria in the form below. Clear Search Cancel. Map data ©2017 Google. Map DataMap data ©2017 Google. Map data ©2017 Google. Terms of Use. Report a map error.

It seemed straight out of South by South Onion: the homeless people of Austin, being used as wi-fi hotspots for bandwidth-hungry, gadget-happy conference-goers. Wait, Homeless Hotspots? Wi-fi hotspots made out of homeless people? It's got to be a joke, right?

But, no. Homeless Hotspots is a very real -- and very earnest -- initiative, imported to Austin for this week's South by Southwest Interactive festival by BBH Labs, the skunkworks-y innovation unit of the marketing firm Bartle Bogle Hegarty. (You may remember them from such projects as the Axe Body Spray oeuvre, as well as The Guardian's recent Three Little Pigs ad.) BBH Labs has worked in the past on the problem of homelessness in New York City, through its Underheard in New York project; Homeless Hotspots, they say, is an attempt to bring a similar 'charitable experiment' to Austin.

Wifi Hotspots Austin Texas

Participants in the program carry MiFi devices with 4G connectivity. 'Introduce yourself,' BBH explains, 'then log on to their 4G network via your phone or tablet for a quick high-quality connection. You pay what you want (ideally via the PayPal link on the site so we can track finances), and whatever you give goes directly to the person that just sold you access.'

The SXSW festival has a history of weakening WiFi and cellphone connections in Austin, Texas. This year, the ad agency BBH has been attempting to remedy that while also doing some community service, with its 'Homeless Hotspots' initiative. As Wired points out, the program has attracted its share of controversy.

'Homeless Hotspots', which is not affiliated with the official SXSW organization and ends today, has employed 13 homeless people from Austin's Front Steps Shelter by equipping each with a wireless router. According to BBH, the 'Hotspot Managers' have been 'strategically positioned' throughout the city, offering festival-goers the opportunity to buy access to the participant's 4G network from a phone, laptop, or tablet. Each manager keeps his or her earnings in full.

BBH says the program was adapted from the model of street newspapers, which are produced and sold by homeless populations to 'stabilize urban street corners through building self-confidence and self-worth,' according to the North American Street Newspaper Association. But, as Wired notes, the 'Homeless Hotspots' project requires workers to wear t-shirts that read 'I'm a 4G hotspot,' which confuses the goals of the original model.

According to BuzzFeed, the program's organizer, Saneel Radia, said, 'The worry is that these people are suddenly just hardware, but frankly, I wouldn't have done this if I didn't believe otherwise.' BuzzFeed also interviewed one of the participants.

On the BBH website, the company said its longterm goals are more specifically targeted at providing the homeless with a digital writing platform. The company noted, 'We are doing this because we believe in the model of street newspapers.'