Since early last year, software firm WebCriteria had wirelessly transmitted its high-speed Internet connections within the Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square. Anyone with a laptop equipped for wireless access could hook into that "WiFi" connection and surf the Net at blazing speeds, free of charge and cords.

But WebCriteria is moving from its office overlooking the square to a smaller office on Southwest Broadway near Burnside. It stopped transmitting the signal June 6 as it began moving to the more modest digs. The company employs about 10 people in Portland -- down from 65 at the end of 2000, said Alistair Williamson, WebCriteria's chief executive.

"It was a service we could provide the community," Williamson said. "Now we're moving to a building that doesn't really overlook a public space like this."

WebCriteria was one of more than 100 companies and individuals in the Portland area that donate part of their high-speed Internet connections to the Personal Telco project, a grassroots nonprofit that provides free WiFi. Anyone within a block or two of the Internet connections can typically tap in.

The Pioneer Courthouse Square connection was the group's most popular, attracting up to 20 surfers a day, said Nigel Ballard, a Personal Telco organizer.

"It's kind of our flagship node, and it worked to generate a tremendous amount of publicity for Portland, both U.S. and internationally," Ballard said.

Personal Telco's prevalence was the main factor that propelled Portland to the top of the list of the nation's most "unwired" cities, released by Intel in March. The rankings were based on the number of wireless access points available, the percentage of households with Internet access and the number of wireless phone carriers offering Internet access.

WiFi is an increasingly popular way for both homes and businesses to connect to the Internet. Personal Telco is pleading for business managers with a window overlooking the Square to donate their connections.

"We feel bad that Portland's living room has lost free access to the Internet," Ballard said.

Internet junkies still have an option to connect to the Internet in the Square, but this one will cost money. They could choose a service offered at Starbucks by T-Mobile that starts at $29.99 a month.

When T-Mobile began offering the service last summer, it attempted to send its signals over the same channel that Personal Telco had been using for months. After publicity of the fight, T-Mobile moved to a different channel.

Information about Personal Telco, including a list of the Internet access points throughout the Portland area, is available at www.personaltelco.net.

Jeffrey Kosseff: 503-294-7605; jeffkosseff@news.oregonian.com