San Francisco is offering free Internet access along one of its main thoroughfares.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the city-owned wireless network was running last week ahead of its formal rollout on Monday. It covers a three-mile stretch of Market Street from Castro Street to the Embarcadero.
City officials say it cost about $500,000 after donations from two companies, Ruckus Wireless, of Sunnyvale, and Layer42 Networks, of Mountain View.
It comes as the city is moving forward with plans to bring free Wi-Fi to San Francisco's public parks in partnership with Google. City officials had proposed citywide wireless Internet access in 2007, but that plan fell apart amid concerns about a contract with EarthLink and Google.
A new website provides a tutorial on how to connect to the Wi-Fi network and shows a GIS map of the access points for service along Market Street. For more information, go to: www.sfgov.org/sanfranciscowifi.
