The city of San Francisco launched a new public Wi-Fi network along its main thoroughfare on Market Street, giving thousands of commuters and residents free Internet access.
Simply called "_San_Francisco_Free_WiFi," it covers three miles from the intersection of Market and Castro Streets all the way to the Embarcadero, right on the bay. The ad-free network is public — no need to sign in.
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San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee celebrated the launch on Monday, which comes almost a decade after the city promised to build a citywide network. However, that joint project with Google and Earthlink faltered years ago.
Even though this new network doesn't quite reach throughout the city, for Lee, it's a beginning.
"A quarter of a million people traverse Market Street every day, from all walks of life," Lee said during a press conference. "Now they can access information, find out when their next bus is coming, or peruse local job listings, all for free. This is a significant first step in my vision of connectivity for our city."
The network is a city project that cost $500,000, excluding donations from Ruckus Wireless and Layer42 Networks, according to SFGate.
The Wi-Fi gear is mounted on the city's traffic poles and relies on a gigabit fiber network that runs below Market Street. The network joins another initiative, one sponsored by Google, to provide ad-supported free Wi-Fi in 31 San Francisco's parks by the spring of 2014.
This launch comes just a week after New York City announced a large public Wi-Fi network in Harlem.
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