Municipal Hall

January 28, 2008 / 12:00 AM

Maple Ridge, BC: At Maple Ridge Council workshop this week, a new pilot program was announced that allows anyone visiting the downtown area to tap into free wireless Internet service. The new program, called FreeTown, is now available 24 hours a day, year round within the downtown area of Maple Ridge bounded by Lougheed Highway to the south, Dewdney Trunk Road to the north, 223 Avenue to the west and 227 to the east.

FreeTown wireless Internet access is provided by the District of Maple Ridge in association with Tranzeo Wireless Technologies, the company responsible for the design and construction of the system at no cost to the District. "This is an exciting, leading edge service provided free of charge to anyone within the coverage area," said John Bastaja Chief Information Officer for the District. FreeTown will allow people with properly equipped and configured devices such as a laptop computer or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) to access not only District services such as registering for recreation programs, but access to the rest of the world through the Internet.

There are two components of this system, one where District inspectors and Bylaw Enforcement Officers, for example, are able to access their files while on the road and within the coverage area without having to pack files around or return to their office to retrieve them. The other is for the public to access the Internet wirelessly. The District and Tranzeo Wireless Technologies are pleased to move forward with this new service in association with London Drugs and Best Computers, both of whom will be providing user support for this new service.

Downtown Wireless Reception Map [PDF, 428KB]