Free Wi-Fi for Downtown is here to stay, for the next three years at least.

The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and aspStation Inc., a Bloomfield-based Internet access provider company, have reached an agreement that will maintain wireless Internet access across the Golden Triangle through December 2011.

Partnership executive director Michael Edwards said the service has proven to be a selling point for convention planners when they consider meeting in Pittsburgh.

"The fact that we have outdoor Wi-Fi is a compelling message," he said.

In recent years, free wireless Internet has been seen as an amenity that could help revitalize urban areas, and hundreds of cities and counties have initiatives under way. But in most instances, the price tag for citywide Wi-Fi has been prohibitive, and many current plans are limited to public safety personnel or to specific uses such as video surveillance.

Pittsburgh has one of the three largest zones in the country offering Wi-Fi to the general public, Mr. Edwards said.

The current provider, aspStation, began offering the service in October, after the partnership canceled its contract with U.S. Wireless, the Louisville, Ky.-based company that built the wireless network that began operations in September 2006. U.S. Wireless filed for bankruptcy Oct. 9.

In recent months, activity on the network has averaged between 4,000 and 6,000 user sessions per month, Mr. Edwards said.

The average user spends 85 minutes a day online -- well within the two-hour limit for free access. When a user is online for more than two hours, the network prompts him or her for credit or debit card information to pay for additional usage, at the rate of $14.95 a month.

Ed DeHart, president of aspStation, said he expects the company to finish setting up a new accounting system within the next two weeks, likely resulting in a reduced monthly rate. The new system also will offer daily rates and the ability to pay via PayPal, the online payment processing service.

Meanwhile, Mr. DeHart said company Vice President Stephen Zelenko is "talking to other non-profits and other organizations" about extending the network beyond the Golden Triangle.

In August, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's administration issued a request for proposals to explore the possibility of extending wireless Internet access citywide.

That effort was shelved in January, after only one viable proposal was received, from Chicago-based Diamond Management and Technology Consultants.