Free Wi-Fi along two blocks of Main Street gets off to a good start

The company that is to have its name on Columbia’s new baseball stadium has launched a free Wi-Fi system for two blocks of Main Street and hopes to expand it seven additional blocks later this year.

Spirit Communications spokesman Roddy Broadnax said the service was accessed using the identifier #SPIRIT4U by about 1,000 users even before its formal announcement Monday. “People were finding it and logging onto it,” he said.

Those users found the service between Gervais and Washington streets along Main during a 10-day trial period before the public launch, he said. Almost 100 new users logged in Sunday and by late afternoon Monday 128 others had used the service, the spokesman said.

Spirit would like to extend the free service along Main to Elmwood Avenue, but Broadnax said it’s unclear how soon that might happen. A news release said additional areas would be added this summer.

“Our goal is to provide this service throughout the city ... in select areas,” he said. If enough people use the service, Spirit is considering other locations such as the Vista, Five Points or the Riverwalk, the spokesman said.

Spirit has not determined how many people would have to use the service before the company decides where and how far to extend it, Broadnax said.

The pilot project is being done in partnership with city government. Spirit has a franchise agreement with City Hall in which the company uses existing city infrastructure on which to place its equipment, assistant city manager Missy Gentry said.

This story was originally published June 29, 2015 at 11:41 AM.