Methods and apparatus are disclosed for distributing electronic media to
near stationary users, such as in-vehicle users or other mobile users,
using short-range high speed wireless access techniques. A content
provider stores electronic media at one or more wireless servers
positioned at the edge of a network, such as the Internet. The wireless
servers transfer the electronic media to one or more subscriber wireless
devices using unlicensed frequency bands at relatively short ranges. The
wireless servers are generally positioned at convenient locations where
users tend to congregate. Media can be cached at desired wireless servers
within the distributed mobile broadband network and downloaded to the
subscriber wireless devices at the designated locations and subsequently
played at the convenience of the user. The caching of content at
distributed locations and the use of fast short-range wireless access
techniques to near stationary users provide a distributed localized
broadband wireless service area that enables the rapid download of large
amounts of media content.