September 22, 2006

Free wi-fi for Central Park delayed, still in 'soft launch'

Free wireless Internet in Central Park had its “soft launch” August 23, but it’s still at least a couple weeks from going live at all eight promised locations in the park, the wi-fi provider’s CEO told NewYorkology today during an interview at One Web Day.

WiFi Salon, the firm chosen by the NYC Parks department to provide free wireless Internet in 10 parks, also hopes to launch its free wi-fi in Prospect Park and Riverside Park at the same time Central Park comes online, said Marshall Brown, the company’s founder and CEO.

The original target date was October 2005 but the company most recently promised to have Central Park functional by August. But only one site is fully operational; the southern tip of Manhattan in July got free outdoor wi-fi from Castle Clinton (the historic round fort where you buy tickets for the Statue of Liberty ferry,) to the beer gardens behind Battery Gardens restaurant. (The signal is especially strong near the new kiosk that sells panini sandwiches for $5.)

Brown summed up the delays: “The main thing has been just optimizing the network in a different environment and getting the DSL lines into places where they don’t necessarily normally go to."

When Riverside, Prospect and Central parks come online, WiFi Salon also plans to roll out its portal page (not yet in place at the Battery,) with content from its partners Nokia and Tribune Co.’s AMnewyork newspaper. And although earlier media reports said some content would only be accessible via Nokia devices, Brown said today the only differences would be in format, not content.

After Central, Prospect and Riverside parks get their hotspots, several other parks are still promised free wireless from WiFi salon, including Washington Square Park, Union Sqaure Park, the Pelham Bay Park Golf Course, the Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course and at the concession area at Orchard Beach. The initial target for the whole project was October 2005.

Many other parks and public spots throughout Manhattan have free wi-fi provided by other networks, including Bryant Park and the World Financial Center's Winter Garden.

Earlier: Battery Park gets wi-fi today, Central Park in August
Free Central Park wi-fi still in the works
Free wireless at Central Park delayed at least to July
Free wi-fi delayed for Central Park
Free wi-fi hotspots scheduled for Central Park

September 22, 2006 03:28 PM in Cheap Stuff, Downtown, Techology, Upper East Side, Upper West Side

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