Springfield residents and tourists downtown will now be able to find directions or look up store hours on their mobile phones without using data.

The city has launched free Wi-Fi service, "SpringfieldFreeWifi," for the downtown area from Second to Ninth streets and East Jefferson Street to East Capitol Avenue.

"Technology will never be obsolete and will only continue to grow and shape our lives. Free, high speed Wi-Fi is one step to improve the economic and visitor appeal to Springfield’s downtown area," said Mayor Jim Langfelder in a statement released Thursday.

The wireless network is intended to work best for people using a device outside, said Jay Underfanger, a computer network manager for the city. It might not work inside buildings.

The speed of the connection could vary depending on how many people use it.

But, Underfanger said, the number of devices providing the signal and the fact that most are hardwired means the connection should be fairly fast and reliable.

“When I look at other cities and what they’ve got, we’re doing well,” he said.

The city worked with local technology company Novanis to help design the system and select the hardware. The city’s information technology and public works departments partnered to install the roughly 30 transmitting devices mostly on electrical poles at intersections.

The downtown project was going to be in two phases, but the city went ahead and installed the equipment in the entire 28-block radius starting in April, said communications director Julia Frevert. The city estimated the project cost to be nearly $170,000.

The free service could be expanded to include the Lincoln Home National Historic Site or the Dana-Thomas House next year, she added.

Downtown Springfield Inc. Executive Director Lisa Clemmons-Stott said the free wireless service would help young, new business owners in the neighborhood.

“We have a lot of tourists downtown, but we also have a lot of entrepreneurs and a creative class that is centering in downtown,” she said. “Modern internet access that they don’t have pay for, that sets the stage for both the creative class and tourism.”

Katie Davison is the executive director of Innovate Springfield, a downtown-based nonprofit that promotes entrepreneurship. She believes the service will lead to a more connected city.

“Free Wi-Fi in the downtown not only demonstrates our community's commitment to innovation, it also gives those who may not be able to otherwise afford or access the internet the ability to do so,” she wrote in an email.

Underfanger said the city would be monitoring the system to see how well it's working and if more transmitting devices are needed in certain areas. He also said they’d be watching closely during big events, such as concerts on the Old State Capitol Plaza.

“This is going out there now. But we’re going to learn from what happens over the next few months and we’ll move on from there,” he said. “We’ll see what we need to fix or improve.”

-- Contact Mary Hansen: 788-1528, mary.hansen@sj-r.com, twitter.com/maryfhansen.