San Francisco Chronicle, January 24, 2006

San Francisco boasts more wireless Internet hot spots than any city in America and has the highest concentration of Wi-Fi connections of any major metropolis in the world, according to a survey being released today.

With 801 public hotspots, both paid and free, San Francisco leapt into first place in 2005 after ranking third at the end of 2004, according to JiWIre, a leading Wi-Fi hotspot directory. San Francisco was followed by New York and Chicago, which occupied the top two spots in 2004.

Wi-Fi hot spots are public areas like a cafe, restaurant or hotel where a wireless internet router has been installed, allowing laptop and handheld users to connect to the Internet without a wire.

San Francisco also has the most free Wi-Fi hot spots, 368, compared with No. 2 Austin, Texas, with just 97. The majority of wireless access points, like the hot spots at Starbucks, charge fees.

By sheer numbers, San Francisco ranked fifth among international cities. But among the top 20 cities internationally, San Francisco had the highest number of hot spots per capita, at about 1 public access point for every 1,000 residents.

San Francisco's pre-eminence in Wi-Fi is due to several factors, including robust customer demand, a large number of local wireless companies offering free wireless zones, and many small businesses using it to attract customers.

"It certainly falls in line with San Francisco's reputation as a technology mecca," said David Blumenfeld, vice president of marketing for JiWIre. "It boils down to something as simple as supply and demand. You have more demand there than anywhere else, so that's why you've seen more pop up, because the usage is there."

The distinction comes as San Francisco moves forward on a free municipal wireless program. The city is waiting for responses to its request for proposals, which are due by Feb. 21.

Some critics of the municipal plan said the rankings only confirm that San Francisco has little need for a citywide wireless system. Sonia Arrison, director of technology studies for the Pacific Research Institute, a think tank in San Francisco, said the rankings indicate the market is already handling the city's Wi-Fi needs.

"There's already so many hot spots here," she said. "We're No. 1 for wireless. That's a signal to government that they don't need to get involved."

Chris Vein, director of the city's department of telecommunications and information services, disagreed, saying that while the top ranking was an honor, it hardly means a municipal network is unnecessary.

"If you look at the map where the hot spots are, they're generally in downtown or Pacific Heights. But if you go into the Bayview or other sections, you don't see that preponderance," he said. "We need Wi-Fi for all San Franciscans."

The city's unwired supremacy is due in large part to Sunnyvale's AnchorFree, a wireless company that created five free hot zones last year covering about 300 businesses.

The company, which has designs on building citywide systems, said it wanted to test its equipment in a dense, urban environment. It quickly realized that to be successful, it had to make the service available for free and recoup its money from local advertising.

"San Franciscans are very mobile; they're on the move," said Denis Hiller, spokesman for AnchorFree. "They're people who really need free access to information at all times. We're just meeting consumer demand. We found if you give people what they want, good things will come out of that.

AnchorFree's hot zones cover retail corridors along Chestnut, Union, Castro and Fillmore streets. One of the best-known zones is at Union Square, where Emre Tanriverdi stumbled upon it while getting a cup of coffee.

He didn't think he would get a signal, but tried anyway and was tickled to find he could check his e-mail and search for an apartment while still outdoors.

"It's kind of surprising," said Tanriverdi, a 26-year-old animation student. "I never would have thought you could find the Internet here."

But it hasn't just been large companies erecting a constellation of wireless routers. Small-business owners have been using it to lure in customers.

Anthony Azzollini, owner of Caffe Roma, was one of the first to install a Wi-Fi router two years ago. At the time, it was meant as an added service for his customers. Now, he sees it at as a necessary part of doing business.

"It has brought up business about 20 percent in the afternoons," he said. "People feel they can work here. Intel has a lot workers that choose to come here and hang out instead of going to an office."

It's unclear what affect a citywide Wi-Fi network would have on local hot spots. Vein, the city's director of communications, said many hot spots will probably stick around and try to offer a premium level of service. Scott Lewis, founder of Metrofreefi.com, a free Wi-Fi listing, said it all depends on how good the municipal system is.

"Hot spots would probably level off, but there has to be some incentive to drop Wi-Fi from a location," said Lewis. "The city's service has to be good and cheap enough not to offer it anymore."

Top U.S. wireless cities

Top World wireless cities

Source: JiWire