The Wi-Fi Alliance is moving its headquarters from California to Austin.
The international technology group works to ensure wireless Internet providers follow the same standards so users can access wireless Internet anywhere.
Rich MacKinnon is the president of Austin Wireless, a group of enthusiasts who are trying to create and maintain a free wireless community in Austin.
He remembers a time when a computer was nowhere to be seen in a coffee shop.
"Five to 10 years ago you would read a newspaper or a textbook, but things have changed in the way we receive our information and entertain ourselves," MacKinnon said.
But the availability of wireless Internet in shops and cafes made him want to create an open community for everyone.
"People want to come here and access the Internet and do their work, their homework or whatever it is," MacKinnon said.
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Wi-Fi Alliance
The massive nonprofit oversees the wireless technologies of 200 companies.
 
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MacKinnon was thrilled to hear that the major global wireless organization is making Austin its new home.
Wi-Fi Alliance is a group of 200 wireless Internet providers who formed in 1999. As a nonprofit, it has three purposes, according to its Web site: To promote Wi-Fi worldwide by encouraging manufacturers to use standard technologies in wireless networking products; to promote and market that technology; and to test and certify Wi-Fi products can operate in any environment.
The group said lower costs and Austin's tech-friendly environment made it an appealing choice.
"We're a great creative town. Music, film, digital media games -- all those together are converging onto wireless platforms," Erin Defosse of Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) said.
ATI is run by IC2, a think tank operated by the University of Texas. One of their projects is Wireless Future and they also created a directory of Austin companies that sell wireless products.
Technology experts said Austin is also an ideal location because the community has already embraced wireless technology. More than 40 shops and restaurants in the city provide customers with free wireless Internet access (or "hotspots") as part of Austin Wireless City.
"Schlotsky's was the first large, national chain to make free Wi-Fi part of their offering. Even city hall and the Texas State Capitol building [have it]," MacKinnon said.
By the end of May, Austin will also have free wireless Internet access in four parks: Auditorium Shores, Republic Square Park, Wooldridge Park and Brushy Creek, thanks to the Austin Parks Foundation and Austin Wireless.
The growing availability of wireless services has made Austin one of the top five wireless cities in the country, according to a recent survey on CNET News.com.
"Every major manufacturer of Wi-Fi hardware in the world sits on the board of the Wi-Fi Alliance. So they're going to be coming to Austin now to have their meetings to meet with companies," Defosse said.
Which experts say is a good thing for Austin's overall economy, especially the high-tech sector.
