News

New Hampshire town eyes Wi-Fi hotspot

August 18, 2003

CONCORD, N.H. -- A pilot project planned for Concord would allow residents to scan their e-mails and surf the Web while sitting on a park bench enjoying the day.

According to a report in the Concord Monitor, Fusion Connex, a Londonderry-based high-tech company, and the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce want to make wireless Internet access available to the public somewhere in Concord. Fusion would equip the location, or hotspot, to provide a high-speed connection that would reach anywhere from 75 to 300 feet, allowing anyone with a laptop and radio card to log on.

Fusion's hotspot would be the first place where anyone in the city could use the technology commonly known as Wi-Fi. Portsmouth, N.H., already has a similar site. Portsmouth launched its first hotspot in June, in the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce's downtown information kiosk.

Laptop owners can already buy the radio chips needed to make Wi-Fi work from Fusion, as well as major software providers like Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. They range in price from $45 to $90, said Fusion spokesman Scott Dion.

As for the connection, Fusion initially plans to offer it for free, so residents can become familiar with wireless technology. Once the hotspot catches on, Internet users will need to purchase time online from Fusion to access its wireless connection, through pre-paid cards similar to those customers can now buy from phone companies, Dion said in the report.

Earlier this month, Verizon Wireless announced that it would be installing 650 hot spots nationwide, mostly in hotels and airports, so that its mobile customers could download large applications and graphics while in range. McDonald's is launching hot spots in at least 175 restaurants this summer, in the New York metropolitan area and Midwestern states. Sprint hopes to offer Wi-Fi access in more than 2,000 public locations nationwide by the end of the year, the report said.