Turning wireless

Residents and a councilwoman suggested the city pursue adding wireless downtown, and city staff is in talks with Sunnyvale-based AnchorFree Wireless Inc. to consider installing hardware for free connections.

"I think it would be great," City Manager Jim Nantell said on Tuesday. "Anybody downtown would be able to access it."

Councilwoman Terry Nagel suggested the change, and it is scheduled to discussed at a city budget meeting Wednesday.

AnchorFree would charge neither the city for installation nor users for logging on. Users would guide computers to find a wireless connection, or hot spot, and register for free to use it on a 802.11.G connection.

Wireless - or WiFi - allows computer users to browse the Internet without physically plugging the computer into a phone line and it can be picked up by many newer laptops.

A Burlingame city staff report said AnchorFree makes money on advertising, but a spokesman said there is no direct "pop-up" advertising in the system and declined to comment further on how it generates revenue.

Palo Alto installed AnchorFree systems in May of last year and San Francisco districts like the Castro, Fillmore and Marina have also been made "hot."

Traditional "hot spots" emanate from coffee shops, "But our strategy is above and beyond that," said Denis Hiller, a spokesman for AnchorFree. "Let's make the entire commercial area wireless."

City staff looked into other companies' systems, but most charge the city for installation and users for access. AnchorFree would likely install the system on traffic signals, according to a staff report.

Burlingame Internet users looking for a connection can now log on at Starbucks at 1160 Burlingame Ave, the Apple store and the Burlingame Public Library, while on Broadway only Il Piccolo and Starbucks are listed hot spots.

Nantell said Burlingame police would also be able to access wireless Internet while on patrol, and said the low cost of the proposed system is a draw.

"It's better than the city or subscribers paying for it," he said.

The City Council will meet for a study session from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Lane Room of the Burlingame Public Library, 480 Primrose Road.

Stephen Baxter can be reached by e-mail at stephen@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.