But, Pilot Broadband director Eric "Zonker" Harris said, there are kinks with any new development.

What's important is that the newspaper's Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) Internet service has been up and running in downtown Southern Pines since mid-July.

"And we're going to grow from there as quickly as we can deploy," Harris said.

The first phase of WiFi, a wireless broadband connection service some five times faster than dial-up, is available in a five-block radius from The Pilot's offices, at 145 W. Pennsylvania Ave., down Broad Street from Lulu's to the Sunrise Theatre.

Harris reports that an average of 15 users have been connecting daily to the service, which is free and best accessible in public spaces.

And these first two towers, one above The Pilot and the other above the Posh building at 115 N.E. Broad St., are just the start of things to come.

Check Friday's Pilot and ThePilot.com for the full story.