In managing One Oxford Centre, Grant Mason noticed more and more patrons toting laptops into the building's food court and public areas.
So, the assistant vice president and general manager for Oxford Development Co., the building's owner, sought a way to offer them an amenity that would bring them back, prompting them to spend more time -- and more money.
Oxford contracted with Shadyside-based Telerama Wireless Corp. to install wireless fidelity, or wi-fi, Internet access in the public areas of the 45-story, Downtown multitenant office building, which gets up to 1,000 daily visitors, in addition to the roughly 2,000 who work there. Those involved in the project contend it is the largest public wi-fi deployment in a Pittsburgh office building.
This means people who come to shop or eat in the building's public areas -- the four bottom floors -- can surf the Internet wirelessly on their laptops or hand-held computers. Patrons can subscribe to Telerama for $30 a month or $5 a day to gain access. For their money, Telerama subscribers also can access the 100 other Telerama wi-fi "hot spots" throughout the Pittsburgh area.
"We met with them and were very impressed with what they were doing and we decided to go with them," Mr. Mason said.
Chris Sweeney, president of Downtown-based 3 Rivers Connect, a nonprofit organization whose mission it is to get Internet access to the masses, said there are few, if any, so-called Class A office buildings Downtown, such as One Oxford Centre, with public access to wi-fi. He said some businesses have installed wireless Internet access in their offices or buildings, but it is for internal use by employees.
The building where 3RC is located, the Regional Enterprise Tower, has a hot spot in its lobby, but foot traffic in and out is not nearly as heavy as Oxford Centre.
Two years ago, 3RC created a public access wi-fi network covering parts of Downtown and Oakland, but that network is no longer operating.
Until now, Telerama's hot spots have been installed in locations such as coffee shops and laundromats. This is the first office building Telerama has contracted with to install a hot spot, but founder Doug Luce said it won't be the last.
"Our big push is we like to cater to individuals in their own city and provide them with a large number of alternatives," Mr. Luce said. "People become subscribers and can use it not just in one building, but in a whole network. Oakland, Shadyside, the Cultural District are options for using our other hot spots. This is how we differentiate what we do compared to others. Starbucks is for the traveling business user. They're all over the country, but you have limited choices within a city."
While the wireless Internet access is available now just in the public areas, Mr. Luce said he hopes to roll out the service to the building's 70 tenants and then to other Oxford properties and office buildings. Oxford owns and manages several million square feet of property in Downtown Pittsburgh and surrounding areas.
"If it proves successful, Oxford would look closely at adding it elsewhere," Mr. Mason said.
While users will gain convenience from wireless Internet access, both Telerama and Oxford stand to benefit financially. While Telerama collects subscribers' fees, Oxford will get a one-third cut of that money, plus free Internet connectivity for Oxford management in the building.
But Mr. Mason said the organization didn't do it for the money.
"It's a very small revenue stream," Mr. Mason said. "We're looking at it purely as an amenity to attract shoppers and people doing business in One Oxford Centre, and providing a service that is necessary and beneficial in today's technological society."
Ron Gdovic, executive director of InSITeS, Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for the Study of IT in Society, said there's a growing market for wi-fi service.
"Generally, people are becoming more accustomed to expecting wireless access at more and more public places," Mr. Gdovic said.
Additionally, since Telerama has been around since 1991 as a traditional Internet service provider, it shows potential customers the service is legitimate.
"They have staying power in the local market," Mr. Gdovic said. "And as far as the economics go, the more locations a carrier has, the more attractive it is for users because they have different locations to visit."
Telerama has competition on both lines of its wi-fi business. Boingo Wireless Inc., for example, has more than 12,000 hot spots worldwide, mostly in hotels, cafes, airports and retail sites. T-Mobile offers wi-fi access at places such as Starbucks, Borders and FedEx Kinko's locations throughout the Pittsburgh area and nationwide.
In the office tower space, Richardson, Texas-based InnerWireless Inc. has been in the "in-building" wireless market for two years, installing technology to support not only wi-fi users, but also wireless phones in multitenant office buildings where signals are often lost.
InnerWireless marketing director Tom Eagle said the firm has installed access in buildings in New York, Dallas, Charlotte, N.C., and in Chicago's 110-story Sears Tower.
"There has been a growing demand by tenants," Mr. Eagle said. "Often, it's led by the large tenants who demand property owners pay for this."
Mr. Luce funded the wireless expansion with Telerama Internet revenue. Mr. Luce said Telerama Wireless, which is in the black after less than a year in business, keeps costs down by using minimal hardware and free Linux-based software. He said it cost about $2,000 to install Oxford Centre's wi-fi. He has heard of other firms nationwide spending $250,000 for similar projects. And, he said, the system is secure.
Industry research firm In-Stat/MDR recently reported 43,850 hot spots worldwide in 2003 and predicted there would be 200,000 by 2008. The firm said business people will continue to be the biggest users and cafes will continue to rank with the largest number of locations.
Jonathan Edmonds, chief information officer for The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, said wi-fi access that Telerama installed in the Cultural District at coffee shops and Wood Street Galleries has been "pretty well-received," though he did not have statistics on usage.
"I go over there (to La Prima coffee shop) and you always see at least one person with a laptop or hand-held surfing," Mr. Edmonds said.
He said the partnership is particularly beneficial to the Trust since it made no capital investment and gets a percentage of the subscription fee, above a certain threshold.
"We give them access and they come in and do everything; they set it up and support it," Mr. Edmonds said. "We're talking to them about expanding in a couple more places, including Katz Plaza in the spring."
MS. GUZZO may be contacted at mguzzo@bizjournals.com.
