May 16, 2006

Free wireless at Central Park delayed at least to July

With plans way behind schedule to bring free wireless Internet to most of New York's major parks, the city has set a "late summer" deadline for a private contractor to complete the job, according to the New York Times.

Originally the service was supposed to be up and running in October 2005, according to plans first announced in September.

When NewYorkology exchanged e-mails in November with Marshall Brown, the chief executive officer of the chosen contractor, Wi-Fi Salon, he said, in part: "Put simply, we are in continued negotiations with a lead sponsor and several other sponsors. Their product launch delays affected their marketing spends, and in turn changed our timetable."

This is what he told the New York Times yesterday after the Parks Department set a July deadline for Central Park service and late summer for the other locations: "That's the timetable set forth by Parks. Let's see if that's attainable." Later he added, "It's obviously going to be tight, but I'm confident we'll be able to pull it off."

Parks Department officials said they will rebid the contract if the deadlines aren't met.

In the meantime, the non-profit NYC Wireless group has set up free wi-fi at a number of other city parks and public spaces, including Bryant Park and the Winter Garden.

Resources: NYC Wireless free hotspot map
HotSpotHaven.com
Wi-Fi HotSpot List
NY Public Libraries with free wi-fi

Earlier: Free wi-fi easy to find in NYC - Digital-Lifestyles
Free wi-fi delayed for Central Park
Free wi-fi hotspots scheduled for Central Park

May 16, 2006 01:29 PM in Techology

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