WiFi draws patrons to the Downtown Mall

Jon Bracksieck, indulging in a perk of the warmer weather, was enjoying an evening beer on the Downtown Mall last week. Next to his nearly full glass was a laptop hooked up to free wireless Internet, made possible by the $7.5 million mall overhaul that began in January.
“It adds to downtown,” said Bracksieck, who has lived in the city for nearly four years.

On the list of new amenities for the freshly rebricked area, Charlottesville has installed a free, open WiFi network on the entire pedestrian path for visitors to enjoy.
Because of the service’s installation, graduate student Hans Burger said, “I could tell you that the entire graduate student consortium would come down here.” Burger, who was sitting with city resident Yarden Baston and looking at photos on his laptop, reacted enthusiastically when he discovered the free WiFi.
“I’ll come down here all the time now,” he said.
The network was installed and will be maintained by Blue Ridge Internetworks, which has its office on the mall, after the company submitted the lowest bid to the city.
Officials first mentioned installing a free wireless network on the Downtown Mall last year, before the renovation project was approved by the City Council in July and the construction work started in January. The network has been up and running since last month, which Mayor Dave Norris noted at the mall’s rededication ceremony on May 29.

Last year, the city estimated that it would cost between $50,000 and $60,000 just in capital costs to enable the service. Blue Ridge’s bid came in at much less — the city will pay $3,700 a month, or $44,400 per year, to Blue Ridge for the first year of service. The cost included the network’s installation, equipment purchases and any maintenance. After the first year, the cost will be cut to $2,400 per month, or $28,800 per year, should the city decide to renew the WiFi.
“It did come in well under the estimate,” said Jennifer Luchard, the manager for Charlottesville’s procurement operations.

Several individual businesses on the mall have already installed their own WiFi networks for patrons. Antonio Jorge, the owner of Cafe Cubano, said even though the mall has a large WiFi network, he doesn’t plan to disable his service.
“I will continue to have mine because I can’t be dependent on someone else’s WiFi,” he said.
Jorge said he does not use the WiFi for credit-card transactions to protect his customers’ security. He said the stores and restaurants on the mall might streamline eventually to one connection, but he doesn’t see that happening just yet.
“It’s too early on to see how well their structure is going to work out,” he said.
Other localities in the state have installed similar WiFi systems.

In the summer of 2003, Roanoke installed free WiFi zones in its downtown area, centered within the Market Square area with coverage available outdoors in one to two blocks in all directions.
The new mall network is not tied to any city system, said Jim Tolbert, the city’s director of Neighborhood Development Services, so no security issues have come up thus far. Tolbert also said that the city does not have any plans to expand free WiFi to other public areas.
“We have no intention to expand it anywhere else,” he said. “It was done as a part of the mall project for that public space.”
Bracksieck said he was not worried about the security of his laptop as he used the mall’s connection.
“Charlottesville hasn’t shown to be that kind of place,” he said.