THOMASVILLE — Thomasville Utilities will launch its wireless Internet service to the community Thursday with a “Wire Cutting” ceremony held in conjunction with the annual Customer Appreciation Day.

“Customer Appreciation Day is a great venue for the launch of our wireless service because there’s no better way to show how easy and versatile Rose.Net Wireless can be,” Sherri Nix, marketing coordinator for CNS, said. “Having a large number of our customers together at one location is the perfect way to showcase our new service. In addition to finding out more about Rose.Net Wireless, our customers can enjoy the afternoon while receiving information about many city-related services.”

The city began looking at plans to offer wireless Internet more than two years ago, officials said, when Gov. Sonny Perdue announced the availability of funding to assist local communities in establishing wireless broadband networks through the Wireless Communities Georgia Program.

Thomasville Utilities applied for funding and was one of six cities to be selected in the first round of grants.

Winners were announced in September 2006. Thomasville received a $500,000 grant. The city’s allotment has been awarded in installments to reimburse it for expenditures on the project.

The final allotment is expected to be given to the city after Thursday’s event.

“This funding allowed our plans to offer mobile Internet service to become a reality,” Don Atkinson, assistant city manager of utilities, said in a news release.

Jared Vickers, network engineer, said surveying for the project was a very “in-depth” process.

“We can’t just throw a network up and hope it works,” he said. “We have to make sure we’re not stepping on any toes of other networks.”

Installation of wireless router boxes for the first phase of the project began in September 2007 and wrapped in April. Those at Cherokee Lake were added in September of this year.

Phase One covers four miles and runs along Jackson Street, Remington Avenue, US 319, U.S. 84 and the downtown area.

Coverage areas will expand in the future, officials said.

“The goal is to have it available in public places such as restaurants and shops,” Marvin Golden, network operations director, said Monday. “We want it to eventually cover the entire downtown area.”

Wireless Internet availability will also assist city staff in daily operations, officials said.

“We will have the public safety network for our local fire, law enforcement and other service agencies,” Vickers said. “We will also have a municipal network for other city staff, in addition to the public network for residents.”

An example is the Thomasville Police Department, which can utilize the network by having a consistent stream of digital video, eliminating the need for officers to return to the station to upload videos.

“Wireless Internet will give the officers complete access to critical information from the expediency of their patrol cars,” Police Chief Ellis Jackson said in the release. “This service will assist in minimizing time officers spend commuting to the station and allow for more time to spend on the streets.”

Vickers and Golden said the service is easy to use as long as a person has an industry standard Wi-Fi card in their laptop or other portable device.

“Just search for available wireless networks and you will find CNS Public if you are in a location where we have it available,” Golden said. “Select it and you will be prompted to our splash page, which will have links to local sites such as city government.”

Vickers said connection to these sites is free, but if someone wants to search the Web, they must sign up for the service.

Wireless Internet is available to existing Rose.Net customers for $4.95 per month. Daily, weekly and monthly rates are also available, officials said.

Starting Thursday for two weeks, customers will be allowed a free trial of Rose.Net Wireless. The city will be giving out username and password slips at the event, allowing potential customers to surf any site on the Web for the trial period.

Then, they would need to sign up with Rose.Net Wireless to continue the service.

“We are pleased to add wireless Internet service to the wide variety of utility services we offer,” Mayor David Lewis said in the release. “We believe this service will be a tremendous asset in promoting economic development, expanding educational opportunities as well as improving the efficiency of our services.”

All utilities customers are invited to stick around after the “Wire Cutting” to attend Customer Appreciation Day. Departments will have displays, activities and free giveaways on site.

“We value our customers,” Nix said. “We encourage them to stop by, ask questions and learn more about our various services.”