08/01/03

JEFFREY KOSSEFF

Internet junkies can once again cut the cord in Pioneer Courthouse Square.

The Personal Telco Project, a grass-roots technology nonprofit, has found a new donor of wireless Internet access near the square, replacing one that moved.

The connection enables anyone with a laptop equipped for wireless Internet access to tap into the fast service for free.

From its 10th-floor offices above the square, the Portland Business Alliance this week began broadcasting a connection donated by EasyStreet Online Services, an Internet service provider based in Beaverton.

The business alliance sees the service as a downtown economic development tool.

"It draws creative people, which attracts high-wage employers," said Molly Moore, the alliance's new economy manager.

Until June, WebCriteria, which also had offices overlooking the square, donated its Internet connection. Since it began offering the free wireless service, known as WiFi, in early 2002, as many as 20 people a day tapped into the connection.

But when it moved offices, the free access was gone.

Households and businesses have donated more than 100 other Internet connections to the public through Personal Telco, which hopes to create a "cloud" of free wireless access throughout the Portland area. WebCriteria's connection was Personal Telco's busiest.

Personal Telco helped catapult Portland to the top of Intel's survey of the nation's most "unwired" cities. The rankings were based on the number of wireless connections available, the percentage of households with Internet access and the number of wireless phone carriers offering Internet access.

"This is an indicator that sets us apart from other communities," Moore said.

Nigel Ballard, the Personal Telco organizer who set up the equipment to transmit the WiFi signal, said access is available throughout the square and in surrounding buildings.

"It's just a beautiful location they gave us," Ballard said.

For information about Personal Telco, visit its Web site, www.personaltelco.net.