Pictured is a coverage map of the City of Pickens’ free wireless Internet. The yellow pins indicate the locations of the radio transmitters.

PICKENS — Over the past few months, the City of Pickens and Globalvision Inc. have worked closely together to improve wireless Internet coverage in the downtown area.

The “wi-fi cloud” was installed in early 2012, with the goal of providing street-level wireless access at no charge to patrons and visitors. Mayor David Owens and City Council members believe the service is a valuable one to local residents and visitors and is becoming an expected standard on Main Streets across the country.

It not only provides access for those who may not have the service at their home, but also encourages businesses to come that benefit from sidewalk cafes such as restaurants.

The wireless radios have been installed at the Village Inn, Carquest, Michael’s and Garren’s and receive signal from an antenna on the city water tower behind Main Street. Just recently, radios were added at Legacy Square, Case Interior Design and the amphitheater for an increased coverage area.

Through a partnership with the Forestry Commission, the city shares a tower on Glassy Mountain for the signal as well.

“We greatly appreciate their contribution towards making this a reality and partnering to make downtown Pickens more business- and visitor-friendly,” city officials said in a recent news release.

City representatives met on site recently with Globalvision to discuss how to provide better free wireless Internet in downtown Pickens.

At the recommendation of Globalvision, several of the existing radios were upgraded to handle more devices at one time. In addition, radios were added to three areas to help cover “dead zones,” where signal was weak.

The map with this article shows the targeted coverage area for users that are on the sidewalks. It is important to understand the signal is “line of sight” only, officials pointed out. The radios must be in the line of sight of the water tower, and then the user must be in the line of sight of the radios.

The service is not intended to be inside buildings. Instead, the wireless service is to encourage sidewalk cafes and provide a service to visitors and residents in public gathering areas used during large events, such as the amphitheater and Legacy Square.

City officials said during a recent one-week period, there were more than 1,400 unique devices connected to the wireless.

“We are proud that the service is valuable and is being utilized by the public,” the release said. “We also want to thank the businesses shown on this map for making this project happen. They are valuable partners in this project and have allowed the radios to be installed on their private property. Thank you to Michael’s/Burning Brick Tavern, Case Interior Design/East Main Street Treasures, Garren’s Café, Carquest Auto Parts, and the Village Inn for your continued partnership and service to Pickens.”