This is one of the few articles that questions whether free Wi-Fi offered by a city in the downtown core will lead to the benefits the city hopes: I've been asking this question for a while. Many city leaders who spur the development of downtown Wi-Fi networks say that the networks will draw business into the city. I haven't been able to figure out exactly why that is. I'm doubtful that a business would decide to move into a downtown area and solely rely on a free Wi-Fi network for connectivity--it doesn't sound reliable enough for most businesses. Wi-Fi could be the tipping point for a cafe, for example, that may be deciding between two locations but I'm doubtful that one or two cafes can justify a city Wi-Fi network. Random people surely enjoy the ability to get online over the networks but I'm not sure how many people would choose, for example, to visit a shop downtown vs. one elsewhere because after shopping they can get online in the park out front.

San Jose, which plans today to celebrate the launch of its free downtown network, plans to monitor usage so that it can figure out if the network is worth maintaining. Apparently Long Beach, near Los Angeles, has a downtown network that isn't monitored and the city doesn't know how many people use it. They say they don't get many complaints about it and restaurants ask them to do more advertising about it so people know it's there. In San Jose, Global Netoptex, which will manage the network, will monitor daily use and even how long each user is online.

Such monitoring will be key for municipalities that support free Wi-Fi networks, otherwise they won't be able to prove the worth of the network in order to continue to fund it. Also, such monitoring may be able to help the city improve the network in ways that will continue to attract more users.