Google launches free WiFi in Mountain View

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Google launches free WiFi in Mountain View
By Sarah Jane Tribble
Mercury News

Google's benevolence becomes reality today.

Well, in Mountain View, at least.

After months of beta testing and anticipation, the Internet giant plans to open up its free, wireless Internet network to Mountain View's 72,000 residents.

The network covers about 90 percent of the city's 12 square miles and offers maximum data-transfer speeds of up to 1 megabit per second -- slightly slower than DSL.

The company moved up its launch of the network in part, it says, because of the onslaught of people asking to be testers. One thousand residents tested it this summer.

``The feedback was overwhelming positive,'' said Chris Sacca, head of special initiatives for Google. ``It's glowing, and in fact it's why we're launching the network earlier than we planned. It's hard to keep up with the requests to get on the network.'
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