Wi-Fi Salon Says Goodbye

  December 5th 2008


For the past six years, Wi-Fi Salon has worked to bring free public Wi-Fi to New York City's parks and public spaces. From Oct 2004 through Oct 2008 we held a concession with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation to provide Wi-Fi in 18 locations in 10 flagship NYC parks in 4 boroughs.

We are now in the process of closing down Wi-Fi Salon, as the expense of maintaining a free public network dependent on sponsorship proved no longer tenable given the current economic conditions.

It is with great sadness then that we move on. Despite all, we believe that with advances in Wi-Fi antenna technology and with the flood of Wi-Fi devices now coming into the market, public Wi-Fi is really just coming into its own.

While Wi-Fi Salon and the parkwifi network are now no more, we remain committed to community Wi-Fi, and to giving not only New York City, but other cities, towns,and neighborhoods state-of-the-art Wi-Fi services through a new company called Wired Towns. This community-in-a-box service for Business Improvement Districts and Chambers of Commerce will help support local businesses through wireless and web based technologies.

We worked very hard for a very long time, and survived much, but the current downturn was one we could not weather, given our model. We will all continue to do what we love best though, for community Wi-Fi will survive all this too.

Regards,

Marshall Brown, Founder and CEO.