Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wireless Wired World ; Coffee Shop Offers Unlimited Internet Access

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 23:48:21 -0400

Wireless Wired World ; Coffee Shop Offers Unlimited Internet Access
Source: Greensboro News Record
Publication date: 2003-08-29

Instead of paying for broadband Internet at home, Michaux Kelley visits a
"hotspot," a cafe or entertainment location that offers wireless Internet, to get
some coffee and cheaper Internet.

Kelley, 25, a student at UNCG majoring in Spanish, goes to the Green Bean at 341
S. Elm St. three to four times a week for about an hour.  Kelley disconnected his
Time Warner Road Runner service because he prefers a creative atmosphere and
coffee while checking his e-mail. "Why pay $50 a month when it's $30 here? It's
cheaper to pay a buck a day," Kelley said. One of the Green Bean's main goals in
offering the service was to attract more people. The Green Bean is one of
Greensboro's few hotspots and charges $1 a day for unlimited use of wireless
Internet.

Pete Scrota, 31, owner of the Green Bean, said he put in the wireless Internet
connection in May. "I'm glad we did it when we did. It ended up being easy and
didn't cost all that much. It's an awesome tool to have," he said.

The Green Bean's business has gone up since the connection was put in.
"Everyone loves portable. I think the Internet has almost become a necessity as a
way of getting information, so I think it's fair for everyone to have access to
it," Scrota said. "A lot of students might not have an Internet connection at home
but have a laptop, so we're kind of like the hook-up place," he said. Scrota said
right now the Green Bean wireless users are balanced between students and adults,
but predicted more students would come as school begins.

Internet providers throughout Greensboro have seen an interest in wireless
Internet service. Buck Yarborough, director of government and public affairs at
Time Warner Cable, said that Time Warner Cable launched a residential wireless
Road Runner about a month ago. With this service, residents can network their home
computers using wireless fidelity, called wi-fi, technology.

"It's a very new product and we are seeing some demand, but it will take a little
while for all of our customers to be aware that the service is available," said
Yarborough.
Winston-Salem now has wireless Internet for much of its downtown. The city
sponsors free wireless Internet access on Fourth street, which is available for
about six blocks. The city spent $10,000 to $15,000 on the wireless equipment, but
used the existing infrastructure for the networking. Dennis Newman, chief
information officer for the city of Winston- Salem, said there were several
objectives in mind while making wireless Internet available.

The city wanted to promote the downtown area and provide an appeal to the 18- to
35-year-old population and business people, both local and traveling. They also
wanted the general image of the city to be technology oriented. "I think it's
worked out very well. It certainly has done a lot of good for Winston-Salem and
serving the part of the population that wants to have access to technology,"
Newman said.

Ray Gibbs, president of Downtown Greensboro Inc., said that having wireless
Internet available throughout downtown is not something that group is working on.
"We would like to see it out there, but it's not our highest priority," Gibbs
said.
But Downtown Greensboro Inc. is looking to provide wireless Internet throughout
Center City Park, scheduled for completion in July of 2005.

Gibbs said that wireless Internet throughout Center City Park is intended to be a
service that will make it practical for people to come out during lunch breaks
with their laptops and use the park on evenings and weekends.

http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=41216967&ID=cnniw&scategory=Telecommunications%3AWireless&

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