A Chicken in Every Pot and Your Gmail on Every Block

The Austin Outdoor Wireless Mesh Project, which previously covered a large section of the downtown area, was today extended to an enormous part of East Austin.

The new coverage area runs from I-35 to a few blocks west of Pedernales St, and from Town Lake to East 7th St. A separate pocket of coverage also exists in the East 11th Street Revitalization Area, near the Longbranch Inn.

“The expansion of the Austin Outdoor Wireless Mesh Project is yet another example of using technology to improve the quality of life for our residents,” said Mayor Will Wynn. “This outdoor wireless network will provide a benefit to our citizens by providing greater access to the Internet and to our city by helping to attract and retain businesses and promote tourism.”

The Wireless Mesh Project was first revealed during last year's World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT). Partnering up with network powerhouse Cisco Systems, the City of Austin announced its intention to provide a continuous grid of free wireless access spanning parts of downtown, East Austin, and Zilker Park. The latter is scheduled to go online later this year.

The city has an official map of coverage (below), but Austinist reader Hans Watson was awesome enough to create the handy google map shown to the right. You can play around with it here.

More:
City of Austin’s Current Wireless Deployment
Getting Connected to the Outdoor Wireless Mesh

Photo by gogakuhei on flickr