In a futuristic move that captures the imagination, US search giant Google said on October 3 that it had offered to blanket the city of San Francisco with a wireless network that would allow residents to log on to the Internet free of charge.
The revolutionary bid to turn the West Coast city into a high-tech wireless hub would mark a major departure from its core business as an Internet search engine and shake up the world of Internet providers.
"I can confirm that Google has submitted a proposal to offer free wireless Internet access [Wi-Fi] to the entire city of San Francisco," Google spokesman Nathan Tyler said.
"This proposal is limited to San Francisco and we don't have any plans to expand this community service beyond the Bay Area," he stressed amid speculation the ambitious California firm had its eye on entering the broader US wireless market.
In recent months the company has released a succession of new products, including instant messaging and Internet telephone calls that could take it a step away from its core business.
The wireless proposal was submitted to the trend-setting city of San Francisco, which lies near California's high-tech hub of Silicon Valley, after Mayor Gavin Newsom set a goal of a free or inexpensive city-wide Wi-Fi network last year.
He said that the move would boost San Francisco's technology credentials and help bring Internet have-nots - especially the poor - into the digital age.
Google, based in Mountain View, south of San Francisco, said that "unwiring" the city, home to about 750,000 people, was a way of serving the community and would also act as a test base for new location-based applications.
These programs allow Internet and mobile technology users to find information exactly when and where they need it, including restaurants and directions.
"This is just a proposal at this point, but if accepted we believe Google can bring to bear its expertise managing complex computer networks combined with years of online consumer product development to benefit the people of San Francisco," Tyler said.
Google to make entire San Francisco Wi-Fi
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