Commotion, a new wireless mesh-networking platform, is being deployed across Detroit by the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute (OTI), which said it intends to publicly release the technology in early 2013 for distribution around the globe. The OTI has completed the first phase of construction of a wireless test bed in Detroit's Cass Corridor, where Commotion is being used to connect low-income apartment buildings, community centers, churches and businesses. The prototype open-source network allows neighbors to communicate with one another and can potentially distribute Internet access to local residents, said the group. "The Detroit wireless network plays an essential role in OTI's development of an open wireless solution that will put control of the Internet into the hands of its users," said OTI Director Sascha Meinrath. "The partners OTI works with in Detroit are not only self-provisioning connectivity for local residents, they're proofing out technologies that support free, safe, ubiquitous communications around the globe." The test bed is supported by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight and by the U.S. Department of State. For more on OTI's Commotion initiative, see this release.