Benefits In Detail

The Wi-Fi Zone Will Help Local Businesses

Having a local Wi-Fi Hot Zone will help to local small businesses as they compete with large retailers by improving their marketing capabilities and improving their operational efficiencies.  It will:

           

1.     Increase foot traffic.  With this free wireless amenity,   there will be more people will come to the BID and stay longer.

 

2.     Increase visibility.    Our 180 BID members will be located on an interactive map on the Wi-Fi Hot Zone portal.

 

3.     Offer local businesses the ability to advertise,   whether on the local community portal or online.

 

4.     Enable bilingual communications via the local   community portal.

 

5.     Give local businesses internet access, so that they could better track packages, order more goods, make VOIP calls, etc.

 

6.     Give local businesses the means to coordinate around street fairs, couponing, planning local improvements such as trees and benches.

 

7.     Enable digital (web based) signage and wireless kiosks.

 

8.     Enable local e-commerce / quick delivery.   Local businesses can compete on convenience.

The Wi-Fi Hot Zone will be an immersive location-aware experience.   The BID will be a test-bed the latest in Wi-Fi and community software.

 

The Wi-Fi Zone Will Address the Digital Divide

A free Wi-Fi network in the BID will

1.     Remove part of the cost barrier that helps make up the Digital Divide.   You may have a device - a laptop, PDA or an iPhone, but you may not be able to afford $20-$40 a month to connect via Wi-Fi.

 

2.     Enable VOIP, and make device ownership more attractive.    Making VOIP calls can in short order pay for a $200 Wi-Fi tablet.   Along the way, the user would learn to browse, chat, and send e-mail on the device.

 

3.     Create other economic incentives to literacy by offering local e-commerce and local couponing.

 

4.     Create community driven incentives to literacy by featuring local directories and events, local content, local mapping.

 

5.     Make the network more accessible by offering bilingual content.   Hispanics often face a double divide -- linguistic and technological.  We want to bridge both.

 

6.     Increase computer literacy by enabling the creation of community generated content.   People will be able to "tag" the neighborhood map with reviews and "sticky notes," upload photos and video on the neighborhood.

 

7.     Teach where community Wi-Fi and the web are now, and involve social computing, Web 2.0 and wireless technologies.

 

8.     Aggregate local historical and cultural information.  The portal will be an educational resource, and as such a reason to become more computer literate.

We want the Wi-Fi Hot Zone to be a natural destination for local young people who want to experience their neighborhood in a new way.

Support the Tech Savvy

More and more, people are living the mobile life.   This year, 10 million iPhones will be sold.   Many millions more Wi-Fi enabled laptops, PDAs and Blackberries will enter into use.  Young professionals in media and technology are moving to New York and its many neighborhoods.   The Wi-Fi Hot Zone will give these new residents:

1.     The means to stay connected and productive. 

 

2.     Connect them to the neighborhood through the local community portal. 

 

3.     Give them the means to create a technology community within the community.
 

Costs

 

While networks and web sites do cost money to build, there are also returns on investment from improving business, education, communication, and from revenue streams generated by services running on the community network.  

 

 

Conclusion

 

We welcome the opportunity to speak with your BID about how a Wi-Fi Hot Zone and portal can support local businesses and the larger community.   Call us at 646-627-0733 or email us at info@wifisalon.com to set up a time discuss or meet.