Wireless Net At Portland Ballpark Creates Sparks
Portland has a huge “free WiFi” movement that has been working on a system they call the Personal Telco Project which has a goal of covering as much of the Portland area as possible with free WiFi. One of the providers set up an access point that gives free WiFi to everyone at the local minor league baseball stadium – which is across the street from the office that set it up. This seems like it would be a good thing, and after park officials let the guy who set it up test it out in the park, he put out a press release announcing free WiFi at the park (which should, in theory, generate more paying spectators). However, the ballpark’s management is freaking out. They realized that Comcast is one of their biggest sponsors and, for some reason, think that Comcast might get upset when they find out that the park is offering free WiFi. It’s a little unclear why they should worry. Comcast doesn’t offer “for fee” internet service at the park, so this isn’t taking away from that. Comcast’s only complaint would be if it was their connection being broadcast – but it’s not. It’s from a different ISP. Comcast, for their part, doesn’t seem to care. So, it’s just the park’s management worried about how Comcast might react.
