By Desirae Holland
Free Wi-Fi to be offered Downtown during July events
“The three things people love are baseball, Comic-Con, and Wi-Fi,” were Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s opening remarks at a recent press conference held June 21 at the corner of Fifth Avenue and L Street, just steps away from Petco Park and in the shadow of the Convention Center.
Faulconer was there to announce that the city of San Diego, in partnership with Cox Communications, plans to open up dozens of Wi-Fi hotspots throughout Downtown San Diego’s neighborhoods, offering free unlimited access to the public for several strategic weeks during the month of July.
The arrival of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Petco Park from July 8-12, and Comic-Con International, from July 21-24 at the San Diego Convention Center, means tens of thousands will be flocking to the area and accessing their mobile devices.
“Today, so much of our local economy rests on internet service and with today’s announcement, San Diego’s tourism economy is also entering the digital age,” Faulconer said. “Events like Comic-Con and the All Star Game will be some of our biggest tourist attractions this year — providing big boosts to our economy, which will help to create jobs for residents and revenue for businesses across our city.”
The mayor also thanked Cox for serving the residents of San Diego for more than 50 years.
Addressing Cox’s other recent hotspot installations throughout the San Diego region and across the nation, Sam Attish, vice president of business development and public affairs for Cox Communications in California, pointed to the potential visibility of the events as the reason for the free Wi-Fi initiative.
“The mayor and city share our commitment to keeping San Diego a hub of innovation and technology, and what better way to celebrate than by enabling the public to utilize the technology to stay connected during these marquee events,” he said.
Kerri Verbeke Kapich, senior vice president of marketing and strategic partnerships for the San Diego Tourism Authority, noted that last year, 4.4 million visitors came to San Diego and spent $1.2 billion. The month of July, because of its events, is the most popular month for travel to the region, she said.
“With the two global events, all eyes will be on San Diego and people will be visiting San Diego looking to share memories and talk to people around the world about their great experiences,” Kapich said. “Free Wi-Fi will make it easier for them to communicate.”
Most of Cox Communication’s San Diego high speed internet customers already have access — through their preferred, premier, ultimate or “G1GABLAST” packages — to nearly 100 Cox hotspots currently installed around the county, which are part of a nationwide network of more than 400,000 hotspots.
Cox also recently added 40 new Wi-Fi hotspots on board the USS Midway Museum, one of the city’s most popular landmarks, which attracts more than 1.3 million visitors per year. It also expanded to 153 its number of Wi-Fi hotspots in Balboa Park, accommodating its millions of annual visitors.
To accommodate the influx of visitors to San Diego during the All Star Game and Comic-Con, Cox’s free Wi-Fi will be available in all Downtown neighborhoods from July 8 – 24; including the Gaslamp Quarter, East Village, the Marina District, Little Italy, Cortez Hill and Core.
Those who already subscribe to Cox’s preferred packages listed above will automatically have access to the expanded hotspots Downtown.
Cox customers who don’t subscribe to one of the high speed plans listed above, or those who do not subscribe to Cox at all, may access the free Wi-Fi hotspots starting July 8 by selecting “CoxWiFiFree” on their wireless enabled devices when in range of a Cox hotspot.
For more information, visit cox.com/wifi.
—Editor Morgan M. Hurley contributed to this report.
—Desirae Holland is a local freelance writer. You can reach her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @desirae_h_.
