Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Downtown Orlando set to catch Wi-Fi wave

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 23:35:14 -0400

From Orlando Sentinel 

Downtown set to catch Wi-Fi wave
By Melissa Harris
Sentinel Staff Writer
September 2, 2003

Amanda Harkins exudes everything hip.

She's 23 and working on taking her computer-software company national from her 
Thornton Park apartment.

Sitting outside Starbucks with her Macintosh iBook laptop and her dog, Bruiser, 
Harkins is e-mailing her business partner in Boston Wi-Fi style, sans cable and 
phone jack.

By the end of the year, Orlando plans to offer this cutting-edge amenity -- 
wireless Internet access -- for free in select downtown areas. Yep, that's 
right: for free.

"I would love that," said Harkins, who now pays about 10 cents a minute for 
service. "It's so much better to come out here and work and meet people, 
instead of from my tiny apartment."

Universities and cities across the country are beginning to make Wi-Fi as free 
and accessible as a park bench.

In New York, it's offered in midtown Manhattan's Bryant Park, and more than 100 
McDonald's locations in Chicago and Milwaukee are testing the concept. Parts of 
downtown St. Louis and Jacksonville also are Wi-Fi-equipped.

The network is relatively inexpensive and easy to operate because it uses 
unlicensed radio frequencies. Conrad Cross, Orlando's chief information 
officer, estimates the service will cost the city $27,000 to install and $1,250 
a month to maintain.

Most new laptops -- those less than 6 months old -- automatically detect Wi-Fi 
networks, while users on older machines can buy a wireless card for as little 
as $50.

The network is built using tiny nodes atop buildings or traffic lights that 
beam out the Internet connection at very fast speeds for about 300 feet, called 
a "hot spot." There are about 5,000 public hot spots nationwide, 2,700 of which 
are operated by T-Mobile at Borders and Starbucks locations.

"I received a letter from a constituent asking why we weren't doing this, and I 
thought it was an awesome idea," City Council member Patty Sheehan said. "So I 
talked with the mayor's office and found out what I could do to speed it up."

The project could spark protest from wireless-telephone companies, which are 
trying to charge for the amenity, but Cross said the city will take pains not 
to compete with the private sector.

"We're going to set a time limit so we make sure that everybody gets a chance 
and nobody hogs it," he said.

The time limit could be from 30 to 90 minutes, depending on how popular the 
service is. No boundaries have been set, but downtown leaders are eyeing the 
Orange Avenue corridor, Church Street and the area surrounding Lake Eola.

"This reflects the modern world," said Frank Billingsley, executive director of 
the Downtown Development Board.

Melissa Harris can be reached at [email-masked] or 407-420-6269.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-
locinternet02090203sep02,0,3621864.story?coll=sfla-news-florida

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