A lot of column inches have been dedicated to Wi-Fi over the past few years, at the expense of other networking technologies that might have been more interesting to read about.

Roving journalists are largely to blame for this imbalance. Although press trips are always made in the pursuit of knowledge and insight into the multifarious world of IT, critics sometimes suggest that attendance is driven more by a desire to get out of the office and do a bit of sightseeing at somebody else’s expense.

To avoid being unfairly branded as work-shy, most journalists carry their laptops and PDAs wherever they go; emailing, writing and filing copy while they flit between airports, hotel rooms, exhibitions and conventions.

Therefore, journalists, and others who travel regularly as part of their job, have a particular interest in the availability of reliable, low-cost wireless access to the internet in all corners of the planet.

Until recently, Wi-Fi service providers had been particularly astute in identifying the precise extent and nature of this demand, which is why Wi-Fi hotspots tend to be located at travel hubs.

That travel-centric strategy appears to be changing, however, if BT’s Wireless City initiative is anything to go by. This aims to deliver pervasive wireless data access to much larger areas, starting with Newcastle and Birmingham, and later rolling out to six other city centres yet to be announced.

A good idea on paper, until you realise that in most cases these wireless cities will only provide access either for local government workers or for citizens to access local government content. Businesses may be able to pay a fee to use the bandwidth for their own purposes, but an open channel to the web for all and sundry, either paid for or otherwise, does not appear to be on offer.

It’s also questionable how many people will actually want or need to access local government data, other than tourist information, over Wi-Fi. Is there really a pressing need for people sitting on town-square benches to be able to wirelessly browse for refuse collection dates for the Christmas holidays, the council tax payment hotline or find out what time the library shuts?

Admittedly, I have less insight into the expected demand than BT and the city councils in question, but I do know one thing: with so many Wi-Fi-enabled devices now in the wild, including gaming consoles like the Sony PSP as well as laptops, PDAs and smartphones, there is a huge potential audience for compelling urban wireless services – I’m just not sure that is what BT’s wireless initiative provides.