Mobile considers free Wi-Fi for downtown area

Mobile officials are thinking of offering free, wireless Internet services in the downtown district, joining the ranks of other cities with free wi-fi for moving laptop users on Main Street.

Mobile spokeswoman Barbara Drummond said Tuesday the city is considering free Wi-Fi as part of its long-term planning to entice young professionals and creative people to the downtown area. The city has not signed any contract for the service, however, while reviewing its vendor options.

Meraki Inc. Chief Executive Sanjit Biswas said his San Francisco-based firm markets a product to cities choosing to offer Wi-Fi by the square mile to draw people to certain areas. Biswas said the company already provides service at a Mobile apartment complex near the University of South Alabama. He said apartments use the service to attract tenants.

"We've seen our systems deployed on a large scale in Latin America and Africa. In the United States, what's working is focus deployment," Biswas said.

Free wireless, already provided by many restaurants, coffee shops and related businesses, is gaining popularity as a municipal service, becoming as common as the old phone booth.

Demand for wifi increasing

"There's public demand for it," said Doug Taylor, Tuscaloosa's information technology director.

He said Tuscaloosa is considering providing some "Wi-Fi hot spots" for public safety use. He said the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce has plans of providing some wi-fi access near the University of Alabama campus. But no decision has been made.

Taylor said he doubts the cost is reason for the delay but deciding among all the people involved "who's going to do what."

Don McCanless, director of Information Technology in Montgomery, said the capital city's free wireless system has operated over a year and expanded to nine locations from its downtown startup.

"The biggest users are within the library system," he said.

But he said on a nice day, laptop users can been seen using the service outdoors around Court Square.

Auburn has free wireless connections for the public's use in its 25 municipal buildings, including the public library, and also has partnered with Auburn University to share its system for some city services, assistant city manager Jim Buston said Tuesday.