Baltimore region unplugging Internet

As Baltimore County became the first in the region to join a national list of local governments providing free Internet service to the public Tuesday, other nearby jurisdictions said they?re making plans to do the same.

Baltimore could soon join Philadelphia; Portland, Ore.; and San Francisco and Anaheim, Calif. as a city entirely blanketed in wireless Internet access, according to technology officials in at least three jurisdictions hoping to launch pilot programs by the end of summer. Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith demonstrated the launch of five “hot spots” in Towson?s downtown district on Tuesday, logging on to the county?s government Web site from the shade of an umbrella at a picnic table in the courthouse plaza.