There are also numerous free Wi-Fi hotspots along the parade route, and the city offers free Wi-Fi coverage.
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Of course, there would be many people who would question the need for free public wi-fi, even in city centres.
First, The Matrix's Australian producer, Andrew Mason, and compatriot director Alex Proyas persuaded U.S. studio New Line that Sydney had the technical capability to film their ambitious 1998 sci-fi thriller, Dark City.
Many communities already have pockets of limited free Wi-Fi, but until now those services are mostly either centered around public hotspots like parks, hospitals or libraries or offered by major tech firms like Google, which provides Wi-Fi throughout its headquarters city of Mountain View.
Bloomberg and the City of New York to provide free Wi-Fi at 26 locations in 20 New York City parks across the five boroughs.
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The city launched a free Wi-Fi service in March 2004 that covered LOVE Park in its downtown city center and saw 1, 200 users register to use it in the first two months, says Dianah Neff, the city's chief information officer.
Fi, but covering a whole city rather than only a few hotspots.
In July the city created Wi-Fi hotspots at 10 payphone kiosks in three of its boroughs, the first step in a pilot program designed to make wireless access available to as many people as possible in the city.
And there have been enough users and positive feedback from citizens that the city has already expanded the Wi-Fi coverage area and is planning on eventually providing free or low-cost wireless service across the entire city.
To see a map of the city's Wi-Fi hotspots, check out wifi.dc.gov.
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Earthlink has signed a contract with Philadelphia to build the city's Wi-Fi network, and will join with Google to do the same in San Francisco.
Fifer says the city also plans to experiment with municipal uses of the network, like setting up Wi-Fi-enabled traffic cameras, trash cans that can wirelessly call the city when they need to be emptied or traffic meters that call in when they're overdue.
During his tenure, the city has rolled out Wi-Fi in public parks, expanded broadband access for businesses and will open much more municipal data utilized by software developers by 2018.
In less than five short years the number of U.S. households with a Wi-Fi network has gone from zero to 4.3 million, and you can barely pass a street corner in any big U.S. city without seeing a public Wi-Fi hot spot.
The City will start by offering free Wi-Fi in Millennium Park in September, as part of a partnership with SilverIP.
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Working outside is becoming easier as the city and private organizations offer more free Wi-Fi in parks and green spaces.
Google also recently rolled out New York City's biggest contiguous free public Wi-Fi in the Chelsea neighborhood, where the company has a campus.
So far, Google has provided free Wi-Fi to its hometown of Mountainview, parts of New York City, Kansas City and most recently, Douglasville, GA, as reported by the Douglas County Sentinal on Friday.
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Finally, the third element of the RFI will be to implement free Wi-Fi internet service in every public park, plaza or space across the city.
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It's still far too early to gauge whether Philadelphia or any other city is truly seeing an economic improvement from the free Wi-Fi.
"All the products at Best Buy will eventually follow, " predicts Amol Sarva, chief executive of New York City-based start-up Txtbl, which will launch a wi-fi-enabled mobile e-mail device this summer.
From Wi-Fi hotspots and charging stations to alternative energy sources and community art installations, once again New York City proves to be fertile ground for launching groundbreaking ideas that set the global standard.
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The operator is set to eventually deploy a Wi-Fi network across the entire Square Mile, London's main financial district, and is launching a number of city center "hotzones" around Britain.
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