Towerstream

Would you like a half-priced mani-pedi, or a new app with that free Wi-Fi?

Towerstream, the operator of the largest Wi-Fi network in NYC, is betting you will.

The company has more than 1,000 access points in Manhattan, and it’s now dedicating part of it to “free” public access.

The only catch is that you’ll have to download the app being promoted that day via Towerstream’s partner BlisMobile. If you’ve already got say, Angry Birds, on your iPhone then you’ll have to see a short ad. In return, you’ll get 4 hours of WiFi.

But the network (and smaller portions of it) can also be rented out by daily deals sites. On those days, users who log-on to the free Wi-Fi will see a discount coupon for a local business — which could be geo-located. So for example, if a Daily Deals site had a half-off coupon for an Italian café near Grand Central Terminal, the Daily Deal company could push that deal via access points in the vicinity.

As for the Wi-Fi access points name? Towerstream says it will change, depending on which company is sponsoring it that day.

Towerstream says it will only be using one out of the nine channels of its Wi-Fi network for the sponsored Wi-Fi. The company’s big goal is to create the nation’s biggest Wi-Fi network, which it aims to rent out to telcoms such as AT&T and Verizon. Those telecoms could then bundle the Wi-Fi service with their data plans for smartphones, giving users better speeds and reducing the strain on 3G and 4G networks in dense areas.

Towerstream plans on blanketing NYC, then moving onto San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles (think free Wi-Fi freeways), then Dallas and Miami.

Towerstream’s CEO Jeff Thompson predicts the ad-supported model will also be a winner.

“We believe that connecting consumers with products that are in their proximity is invaluable,” Thompson said. “Our distribution network for daily deals not only drives downloads to mobile apps, it significantly expands the reach of daily deal sites and all mobile app providers by offering untapped users – a key ingredient for all parties.”

The idea of ad-sponsored “free” Wi-Fi networks isn’t new. And even geo-targeting daily deals have been done before, when Groupon partnered with ad-supported Wi-Fi supplier JiWire in December.

But this is Manhattan.

If free Wi-Fi via sponsorships can make it there, well, you know, free Wi-Fi might make it anywhere.

It’s up to you, New York.

So start downloading those apps already, ya bums. The rest of us want free Wi-Fi too.