Coming soon to Towson: free wireless Internet.
Baltimore County officials are preparing to launch next month a free wireless Web network to anyone in the government district of Towson as part of a small-scale pilot program that could lead to no-cost service countywide.
The county is installing devices near the courthouse, office buildings and library on York Road that will receive signals bounced from an antenna on the campus of Towson University, said Robert Stradling, director of the county?s Office of Information Technology. The program, expected to launch in May, will test the cutting-edge technology to determine the feasibility of expansion, Stradling said.
“Before we spend taxpayers? money, we wanted to see how good it works in our very tight-fit downtown corridor,” Stradling said. “But there are all kinds of advantages internally for the county and externally for the citizens. We?re excited about it.”
The university is donating surplus bandwidth, county spokeswoman Ellen Kobler said, and access will be concentrated around the county government buildings and courthouse and near the library. Signals will likely be strongest outside in the center?s courtyards because of the buildings? thick walls, she said.
“We don?t know where there will be continuous signals [inside], but people may be able to find a spot where they can get it,” Kobler said.
Crews from cable contractor Caton Communications Group Inc. have been in Towson during the past week installing devices on top poles and in the library that will bridge signals from the university.
Other municipalities are considering ways to bring Internet services to residents, including Baltimore City, which is exploring a wireless Internet network that would be offered to residents for a nominal fee. San Francisco made headlines in 2005 when companies, including Google Inc., offered to blanket the city with free wireless Internet at no cost to the government.
