BellSouth to Offer Customers Free Access to City Wi-Fi Net

BellSouth selected Charlotte, North Carolina for its first major deployment of public Wi-Fi networking. BellSouth's Internet customers will have free access to Wi-Fi hotspots concentrated in the Center City of Charlotte and surrounding suburbs. BellSouth said the objectives of this Wi-Fi trial are to test business and consumer demand for public Wi-Fi, large-scale deployment of a public Wi-Fi service and technical support of a Wi-Fi network.

BellSouth initially will deploy about 100 hotspots, with the majority being located in the central business district. The first 100 businesses serving as FastAccess HotSpots receive free BellSouth FastAccess Business DSL for one year, equipment and software from Netopia, professional installation and technical support for both the host location and customers as well as marketing as a Wi-Fi-enabled location. The pilot will go live in the second quarter of 2004. Customers will be able to surf at Wi-Fi HotSpots identified through signage, similar to the window emblems showing which credit cards stores accept. http://www.bellsouth.com