NEWTON For years, city leaders had been looking for a way to offer wireless Internet access as a free public service.

Options always cost too much - from $50,000 to $150,000.

But Jason Clay, 42, Newton's information service director, didn't stop trying to find a less-expensive solution. He kept researching and recently cracked the puzzle. By spending only about $3,000 and using equipment from two different companies, the city has been able to provide free outdoor Wi-Fi in the downtown area.

Leaders saw it as a way to bring more customers into the central business district and encourage the use of public parks and the city swimming pool.

There's also another benefit: mobile devices that will help them monitor the city's water supply and electrical grid.

"This is uncharted territory for the city," said Mayor Robert Mullinax. "I'm sure it will enhance our daily lives and the vitality of the downtown area as time goes by."

Around the square at the former Catawba County Courthouse, now a historical museum, he's already seeing more folks sitting on benches using their laptops, smart phones and iPads.

A growing number of local governments in North Carolina are operating municipally-owned wireless services. Some, like Wilson and Salisbury, have large fiber-to-the-home systems where glass fiber cables go directly to the premises using high-speed light pulses to transfer information extremely fast. These cities charge a fee for the service.

According to the N.C. League of Municipalities, several North Carolina cities and towns offer free or low-cost Wi-Fi, including Raleigh, Cary, Asheville, Hendersonville, Blowing Rock, Southern Pines, Sylva, Apex, and Mt. Airy.

"We're always thrilled to see this kind of investment," said Kelli Kukura, the league's director of government affairs. "Wi-Fi and advanced communications networks in general are becoming a basic municipal infrastructure, just as water and electrical utilities were many decades ago. It's becoming more of a basic necessity in the effort to maintain vibrant, productive communities with a good quality of life."

In Charlotte, free Wi-Fi is available in the terminal at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and in city government buildings. Offering the service more broadly uptown has been discussed by city staff, but Director of Business Support Services Chuck Robinson said that no cost-effective model has been found and that hotels in the area already provide free wireless service.

City Council member Warren Cooksey said free wireless "is a low priority based on the cost and other needs" around the city.

When Winston-Salem introduced free Wi-Fi in a five-block area downtown in 2002, it was billed as the first city in North Carolina to offer such a service, according to the city's chief information officer Dennis Newman. As an economic development tool, he said it's made a positive impact.

"It's made downtown appealing to those who want to come and sit at a coffee table or outside," Newman said. "At first they had laptops but today it's smart phones."

Kernersville began free Wi-Fi service around its town hall about a year ago, primarily to serve the courtroom attached to the building. Town Manager Curtis Swisher said the network was "fairly cheap" and the town may expand it into four or five other sections.

Doing homework

In Newton, leaders had looked at the possibility of free wireless for two or three years, but Mullinax said "it was always cost prohibitive."

When Clay mentioned he might be able to find a cheaper way "we told him to do what he could for under $10,000," Mullinax said. "He came back with something for $3,000. I'd say he did real good. I say give the man a bonus."

Finding a low-cost approach wasn't easy, but Clay thinks it's something any town could manage. It boiled down to doing the homework. "I knew the equipment was out there and that we had to find out which one fit our needs," Clay said. "So I kept digging and researching, trying to take the mystery out of it. When you take the mystery out of anything, it's usually just a lot of smoke and mirrors anyway. I kept at it. And we came up we some pretty cool stuff."

Clay developed a Wi-Fi distribution system using equipment from two California networking companies - Meraki and Ubiquiti - and by buying direct.

Instead of paying a consultant to do radio frequency and engineering studies, he did the work himself.

Clay also led training and installation efforts, which saved the town more money. The Information Services staff and city's electric crew installed antennas on city water tanks and utility poles.

The first phase of the new network covers a six-by-eight block area, but expansion plans are already in the works. The outdoor network had 629 different devices connected to it in August; 144 came on Aug. 18 during the city's annual Soldiers Reunion Day.

Putting the spirit back

Downtown businesses welcomed the free service. "It's been very well-received," said Becky Estiver, co-owner of 2 Pink Magnolias, a boutique gift and wine shop on North Main Avenue. "Anything like Wi-Fi that gives a positive image for downtown is certainly a plus."

Mayor Pro Tem Anne Stedman, 54, who runs the Trott House Inn Bed & Breakfast on North Main Avenue, sees the free access as one tool to boost the heart of the town she grew up in. At 13, she delivered The Hickory Daily Record in a thriving downtown, stopping for ice cream or a cherry Coke at H&W Drug. Free wireless alone won't restore the town to its old glory, but Stedman thinks it's a step in the right direction. "Newton has never lost its charm," she said. "This is a way to help put the spirit back."