Downtown wireless Internet service to start in September
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A missed All-Star game deadline won't matter come September when Downtown Pittsburgh becomes a pioneer on the wireless Internet frontier by bringing two hours of free wireless Web surfing to consumers.
Keith Srakocic, Associated PressMayor Bob O'Connor attaches a wireless access point transmitter to a mounting point for the Internet device in Downtown yesterday while standing in a lift bucket as Pete Hric of Nationwide Electrical Contracting looks on.
Click photo for larger image.
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership said yesterday it inked a deal with Louisville, Ky.-based US Wireless Online to build and operate a Wi-Fi network in the Golden Triangle, parts of the North Side and the lower Hill District. Construction will begin next week.
The Downtown advocacy group and local officials marked the occasion in Market Square with Mayor Bob O'Connor being lifted in a "bucket truck" to symbolically install the first wireless antenna.
Consumers will be able to surf the Web for free for two hours with the option to purchase additional surfing time, faster connection speeds and increased security. Subscriptions will range from $7.99 per day to $14.95 per month to $119 per year.
After tapping US Wireless Online in the spring, the partnership raised more than $356,000 from several local foundations to pay the firm to construct and operate the Wi-Fi network -- with hopes of having it ready for visitors expected to flood the city this weekend for Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.
But last month, the partnership said the July deadline was too ambitious and that it still was negotiating a contract with the financially troubled US Wireless Online. The company was in the midst of "restructuring," according to the firm's Pittsburgh-based chief technology officer, Tim Pisula, while mulling a $9 million buyout bid.
The deal was stalled, the partnership's Chief Executive Officer Michael Edwards said yesterday, not because of concerns about the company's stability, but because it was a "new idea" that needed more consideration by the partnership's board.
In the coming weeks, it's likely that US Wireless Online will announce that it is shedding some of the nine firms it purchased last year, according to Chief Executive Officer Rick Hughes, who said that the firm already has spun off its Baton Rouge, La., arm that operates that city's Wi-Fi network.
Mr. Hughes added that the company has no plans to sell the North Side operations that it acquired last year for $675,000 from founder Mr. Pisula.
Unlike other cities that plan to take a cut of a wireless providers' proceeds, the Downtown partnership will own the Wi-Fi network, but earn no money from it, said Mr. Edwards. The group considers making Downtown "unwired" a marketing and economic development tool.
"Downtown is a cooler place than someplace else because you can get free access and do whatever it is you want to do as an individual," he said.
Alternately, US Wireless Online hopes to make money from operating and maintaining the network by selling ads and enhanced subscriptions -- a business strategy that has generated skepticism among some industry watchers who say it's unlikely that a free wireless network will be able to generate enough advertisers and paying customers to turn a profit.
The Downtown Wi-Fi network also will help the publicly traded company get a foothold in the booming and increasingly competitive market of municipalities launching Wi-Fi networks -- a market that is expected to grow to as much as $1.2 billion by 2010, according to analyst estimates. US Wireless already operates a municipally owned Wi-Fi network in Los Angeles.
"We believe this component of the business will be profitable, but we're not dependent on that revenue as our core business," Mr. Hughes said.
The service is being touted for use outdoors, because the network was not engineered for indoor use, according to Mr. Pisula. "If you're outdoors you'll be solid as a rock," he said. While many people will have Wi-Fi access indoors, he said the service is not guaranteed inside.
To use the 50-plus city-owned lamp posts that will hold the wireless antennas, City Council required US Wireless Online to allow other Internet service vendors to tap into the network to sell their wireless services, although none has approached the company yet, Mr. Pisula said.
The deal also includes a community service component. Public safety workers will be able to access the Wi-Fi network for free while working Downtown.
First Published July 7, 2006 12:00 am
