Wi-Fi While You Wait, Work, and Play in Birmingham

Master List of Birmingham, Ala. Wi-Fi Hotspots Tops 150 and Gains An Easy-To-Remember Web Address... BhamWIFI.com

(PRWEB) June 21, 2005 -- Once only found in coffee shops and bookstores, wireless hotspots have begun to pop up in hair salons, waiting rooms, and watering holes in Birmingham, Ala.

One such new location is Richard Joseph SalonSpa in the upscale English Village district of Mountain Brook. We just added the capability in the last 30 days and we even loan out laptops to customers while they wait. Bring your own or use ours," said Richard Joseph, V.P. of operations.

More than one hundred and fifty (150+) hotspots are now listed online at www.BhamWIFI.com. Public hotspots, or Wi-Fi access points, are locations that provide Internet access while customers are waiting for service or consuming a companys products. In the Birmingham area, some of the more unique new hotspots include:

- Birmingham International Airport ~ Wi-Fi before you fly

- Dreamland BBQ ~ Wi-Fi and ribs!

- Hoover Public Library and Birmingham Public Library ~ Research offline and online at the same time

- Orthopedic Sports Medicine Clinic of Alabama ~ Work while in the waiting room

- Vulcan Park ~ Outdoor Wi-Fi in the 10 acre city park, plus a wirelessly-enabled conference facility

- WorkPlay Bar ~ Work while you play, or vice versa

Birmingham was recently ranked #87 of the 100 most wireless cities in America for 2005 by Intel Corporation," said Curtis Palmer, president of TechBirmingham. By continuously growing the hotspot list and increasing awareness, TechBirmingham is making a concerted effort to increase our regions ranking for next year."

TechBirmingham, the advocate for technology growth in the Birmingham region, in partnership with Internet Professionals Society of Alabama (ipsa), continues to add hotspots to the list. The Wi-Fi list was first unveiled in November 2004 with less than fifty locations. Todays announcement represents an increase of over 200% in only eight months. Know of additional existing or planned public hotspots? The BhamWIFI.com website includes a form where citizens and business owners can submit information to be included in updates to the dynamic list.

Businesses can add a hotspot to their existing Internet service for as little as $50 using consumer-grade equipment but most systems will cost in the $100-600 range.

# # #