That is a question town leaders are asking as they watch other Maryland municipalities, big and small, pay to provide Internet service that anyone can access anywhere.
The town may consider doing a trial run of sorts by offering an Internet hot spot at a site like Armory Park on Main Street, Economic Development Director Trish Heidenreich said.
"It's basically simply at the discussion phase, but the town is looking at offering it and starting with, like, a test market area," she said Monday. "Before we move forward, we just need to have more discussions on the pros and cons."
Some cities and towns see it as a basic public service, Town Commissioner Susan Burdette said.
"Some of the larger cities, like Philadelphia, they look at it the same as water or sewer," Burdette said. "They have a lot of those types of reasons, but also they have a large population of lower-income people who don't have access to Wi-Fi."
"I feel the same, that it's a public service, but is it one that Bel Air really needs right now?" Burdette wondered.
People spending time in Bel Air Monday morning definitely seemed excited about the possibility of public Wi-Fi.
"I think it would be a cool thing," Todd Messick, of Hickory, said while using a laptop in his car outside Starbucks next to Barnes & Noble Monday.
Messick said he is getting ready to relocate to the West Coast, but likes the idea of Bel Air offering Internet.
"It's nice to have a Wi-Fi [connection]," Messick said, explaining he comes to Starbucks for coffee, but uses the Internet while he's there. "It's an attraction."
Ben Eakin and Bob Scott were among those getting drinks and chatting at the Starbucks.
"I think it's a good idea," Eakin, of Forest Hill, said. He also said he comes to Starbucks mostly for coffee, but often uses the free Internet.
"I don't come here to log on, but I do," he explained. "I know other people will just sit here to use [the Internet]."
Scott, who lives just outside the Bel Air town limits, said he makes a point of stopping by Starbucks to use the Wi-Fi when he goes to Florida. He thought it would be useful to have open Wi-Fi in town, but was wary about the government funding the service.
He said free Internet would only be worth it "if they figure out it's going to draw business" and "if it's a benefit." Otherwise, he was not sure taxpayers should be saddled with such a service.
On Main Street downtown, Danielle Merrill, of Edgewood, said the service would "absolutely" make sense. She said she only comes to Main Street occasionally for business and shopping, and would not necessarily use the Internet, but she knows her 27-year-old daughter would.
Connor Ryan, of Bel Air, said free Wi-Fi "would be extremely convenient." He was walking with Doug Dale, also of Bel Air, down Main Street, and both said they go to places like McDonald's or the library to get Internet.
"That would be awesome," Ryan said about the town's idea. "All I have is my phone, so I don't always have Wi-Fi, and there's only so many places you can go."
Heidenreich recently met with officials from Berlin, Md., in Worcester County, and some other towns that offer Wi-Fi to discuss the concept.
"They said some of the challenges that come with public Wi-Fi are, when the Wi-Fi goes down, who do people call? So you have to know how to handle that kind of issue," she explained. "That in itself could create a sort of time strain on our [information technology] department."
"It's more a case of, logistically, what is the demand? Is there a need? Will it be the best use of funds, in terms of that there is a cost to it," Heidenreich said.
Public Wi-Fi had been mentioned in the town's capital improvement program, where it was listed as a $6,000 line item under Armory Park improvements, said Michael Krantz, the town's director of administration.
The commissioners had just decided not to fund that project, Krantz said.
"It's one thing having the vision, it's another thing to actually allocate dollars to it," he said.
Wi-Fi has continued spreading through municipalities around the region. This past weekend, Ellicott City, Md., in Howard County, installed the FreeHoCoGov network for its visitors and residents.
The new service was unveiled during a media event Monday morning, where Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said access to free Wi-Fi would make the town "much more inviting" to visitors and locals alike.
Baltimore City spent a total of $142,600 to launch free Internet service at the Inner Harbor in September 2014, The Baltimore Sun reported.
The city also offers free Internet at its historic public markets, Penn Station and Community Action Centers.
The Ravens paid $5 million for a state-of-the-art Wi-Fi network at M&T Bank Stadium earlier this year, according to The Sun.
Mary Bohlen, administrative services director for Berlin, said the public Wi-Fi, which her town launched in 2013, has been worthwhile for the downtown area.
"I think it's been very positively received, both by the businesses and by visitors," Bohlen said, noting it means businesses do not necessarily have to provide their own Wi-Fi. "We try to be very visitor-friendly, so this is just one more thing that we can offer."
She said the only downfall is complaints about needing to keep logging in, as the network logs users off after about 20 minutes.
"It's not intended for someone to download a movie and watch it for two hours," Bohlen said. "It's more that, we didn't want, frankly, the residents or the businesses in the area to look at it as their own, personal Wi-Fi."
The service costs the town slightly more than $90 monthly, she said, and "people certainly are appreciative of it."
Burdette said Bel Air town officials still need to do more research before they dive headlong into the free Wi-Fi age.
"I think the conclusion we have come to is, the best approach is to talk to the other cities and towns about what they have been doing," she said.
"I think the financial challenges are probably the largest," she said.
Amanda Yeager of Baltimore Sun Media Group contributed to this article.
©2015 The Aegis (Bel Air, Md.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
