Personal Telco Project
Portland Oregon USA
Contact: Press Liaison Nigel Ballard <nigel AT personaltelco DOT net>
Web: http://www.personaltelco.net/
Release date: February 14 2002
Community wireless group in Portland OR announces free public WiFi access
Visitors to downtown Portland will be pleased to learn that free high-speed wireless Internet access is now available in the Pioneer Courthouse Square area.
All that's needed is a laptop or PDA equipped with an 802.11b (aka WiFi) compatible card. The user sets their wireless client software to seek out the access point which has an ID of www.personaltelco.net, they open up their web browser, login and surf the web, it's that easy!
Pioneer Courthouse Square, known as Portland's Living Room, is a popular meeting place for local workers, students and tourists. With many organized events taking place in the square all year round, the addition of wireless internet access will be warmly welcomed.
The Personal Telco Project is a local group of community spirited computer folk keen not only to explore the possibilities of (wireless webbing), but also to provide this access to those who either cannot afford it or don't understand the technology enough to do it themselves.
The group meets once a month, has a very active web site at www.personaltelco.net and welcomes all new members interested in either setting up their own shared node, or just learning about this unlicensed wireless standard.
Personal Telco is able to offer free wireless Internet access due to the hardware, access and location donations of local businesses, and to the enthusiastic volunteer efforts of its members. The Pioneer Courthouse Square node was made possible thanks to local web site analysis company WebCriteria. More high-traffic public nodes will be announced shortly by the group.