Pittsburgh Could Get Wi-Fi
In the past few weeks there has been a lot of buzz about wi-fi in Pittsburgh. The first mention was about local businesses in Shadyside offering free wireless to anyone close enough to get it. Then today there was an article in the Post that talked how Pittsburgh wants to get a contractor to offer free wireless to the whole city.
Right now you can get 2 hours of free access a day Downtown. I have used it before and it’s not that bad. It’s fast enough to check you email but I wouldn’t try downloading large files with it. Even with its limitations it would be great to have wireless access widely available. It might even help keep young people in Pittsburgh; since that seems to be the new goal of this town.
After reading the article you realize that you shouldn’t hold you breathe for this to happen. A lot of wireless companies are finding that it would not be cost effective to offer the service for free.
The best idea so far is from Jonathan Plesset, owner of the Shadyside Inn. He turned on free wireless for all of Walnut Street, in Shadyside not that long go.
“There’s no reason we couldn’t do this in Squirrel Hill or South Side,” he said. His plan is to have business owners in those areas chip in to cover the costs of the system, so their clientele could use it for free.
He’d like to talk with the city about its plans, but said he believes it makes most sense to “just do it neighborhood by neighborhood.”
This something that would benefit the city but finding the best solution is going to take a long time. So I can’t see the city wide wi-fi happening anytime soon, but I guarantee in the near future the “Plesset Style” wi-fi system will be popping up all over.
city wide wi-fi, pittsburgh, downtown, free wi-fi, Shadyside, Jonathan Plesset, Walnut Street
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