Yesterday Comcast and T-Mobile announced a WiFi hotzone in Philadelphia that will be located at Headhouse Square Plaza that’s the intersetion of Second and South Streets. This is the site of a historic marketplace along Philadelphia’s hippest street and is one of that city’s major landmarks.
I agree with Glenn Fleishman of WiFi Networking News. We’re both wondering why Comcast and T-Mobile decided to co-market this hotzone and why they chose this location in Philadelphia over many other landmark locations? Perhaps this was the best known, large public location along South Street, a neighborhood that has demographics that are compatible with WiFi use?
There are a ton of access points in Philadelphia and South Jersey, but the only public access WiFi organization appears to be something called Phillymesh which doesn’t have a website. This doesn’t compare well with communites like NYCwireless in New York.
The Headhouse Square Plaza location will be free for six months, but then it’s expected to be made part of the T-Mobile Hotspot Network. Let’s hope this is the beginning of something big anyway.