There's an effort underway in Cincinnati, Ohio to offer free WiFi access to city residents and
people in surrounding areas by way of a partnership between the city, Time Warner Cable, and the Lily Pad non-profit organization.
The system works with Project Lily Pad setting up private-public partnerships to subsidize the costs for free wireless. Corporations, individuals, and organizations are then given the opportunity to sponsor "Lily Pads," which each contain a number of hotspots and access points within a given geographical area. According to organizers, sponsorships could range from $150 to $500 a year, possibly more depending on the size of the area. Lily Pad then will promote the area as a free wireless zone and allow sponsors to promote their products via their website and various other methods.
At a glance, it's a grass-roots way to promote wireless Web access to the community, but there are some glitches in the system. The system slows down as more users connect, and the system disconnects if there is no activity for more than 10 minutes.
As of now, there doesn't seem to be a plan in place to bring citywide wireless access to the entire city of Cincinnati. This approach may give those who wouldn't normally have wireless access a chance to sample the technology, but the distribution of these "Lily Pads" could very well be contained in a certain geographical area and not to other "less desirable" parts of the region.
