Wireless access proposed for downtown Brunswick

BRUNSWICK – If Bowdoin College gets its way, downtown Brunswick will become Maine’s first community to offer wireless Internet access to much of its downtown district, allowing laptop users to log on from sidewalks and park benches along Main Street.

The liberal arts college on Monday proposed to sponsor a pilot project involving the extension of wireless Internet, or WiFi, from the campus to Fort Andross. WiFi computers use radio technologies to send and receive data within the range of a base station.

After a test period lasting three to six months, the town would decide whether to continue the service and pick up the cost.

The council agreed to consider Bowdoin’s proposal next month, and the college said the WiFi system could be installed and operating within two weeks.

“Brunswick could become known as the place to go to get connected,” said Mitch Davis, Bowdoin’s chief information officer.

“Having wireless Internet access could benefit tourism by drawing more visitors to the downtown,” he added.

Davis said he knew of no other Maine communities that offer broad access to wireless Internet.

Bowdoin already was considering extending WiFi to Fort Andross, where it maintains several art studios. The college wanted to provide wireless Internet access to the professors and students who work in the former mill on Main Street as well as to students who might want to do research or study in downtown locations.

Free Internet access in other municipalities around the country has triggered controversy.

Private companies opposed a recent deal in which Philadelphia is partnering with Earthlink, an Internet service provider, to build a wireless system.

The Pennsylvania Legislature restricted other cities from offering subsidized services when private alternatives are available.