A group of Edmonton, Alberta parents are asking local school trustees to keep Wi-Fi internet access out of public schools, voicing concerns about possible health effects on students.

“Wi-Fi in schools can be 20 to 30 times the strength of Wi-Fi in your house, so the children are exposed to that radiation coming from the Wi-Fi for the entire duration of the day,” one parent was quoted as saying.

Wi-Fi technology has been around for upwards of ten years, of course, and its presence in millions of homes and offices around the world has yet to produce any hard evidence of negative health consequences. (Health Canada and the World Health Organization both take the position that Wi-Fi is not dangerous.)

School officials have argued that Wi-Fi will increase the number of students that have access to the internet.

“We believe Wi-Fi is an important part of the infrastructure to enable the use of 21st-century technologies in education,” school district staff said in a report.

Google has announced that it is teaming up with three major U.S. airlines to provide free in-flight Wi-Fi during the busy holiday travel season.

The free wireless internet service will be available to AirTran, Delta, and Virgin America passengers, flying domestically within the U.S. between November 20, 2010 and January 2, 2011.

Google offered free Wi-Fi on Virgin America flights over Christmas last year, and Virgin’s in-flight Wi-Fi service has been growing in popularity ever since.

“We saw a jump in the number of guests logging on after last year’s free Wi-Fi gift and we expect to see an increase again,” commented Virgin America CEO, David Cush. “Once people try Wi-Fi at 35,000 feet they rarely go back.”

An Ontario school district says that there is no evidence that Wi-Fi networks cause negative health effects, and is refusing requests to shut such networks down when students return to classes next month.

A group of parents in the Simcoe Valley School District had complained that their children experienced symptoms such as headaches and nausea at school, which quickly disappeared when they returned home. Only about a dozen parents participated in the complaint, however, despite the fact that Simcoe Valley has around 50,000 students.

“There’s been a lot of information, but there’s nothing definitive that says wireless is causing the issues, so the board affirmed its decision for wireless communications in our schools,” commented Simcoe Valley’s director of education, John Dance. “There’s been nothing to this point along the lines of medical evidence to say that any illnesses or whatever have been caused by wireless communications.”

Seattle-based coffee chain, Starbucks, will offer unlimited free Wi-Fi access in its U.S. and Canadian outlets beginning tomorrow (July 1).

Customers could previously receive only two hours of free Wi-Fi, and only after entering a valid Starbucks card number and selecting a password, a process considered confusing and arduous by many users.

“The new, unlimited Wi-Fi offering features a one-click entry point, so a username or password will not be required,” Starbucks said in a statement.

Analysts believe that this could make Starbucks’ brand more competitive against lower-cost options such as Tim Hortons.

“Starbucks had been hurting so I think they need it,” said Kenneth Hardy, processor emeritus of marketing with the Richard Ivey School of Business. “It takes the edge off being a four-buck cup of coffee. At least you get your Wi-Fi.”

Canadian wireless operator, Bell Mobility, has recalled Novatel’s MiFi 2372 router due to a problem affecting the device’s lithium-ion battery.

Bell has contacted customers who bought the router asking them to return it for repairs. The fix is expected to take six to eight weeks, during which time each MiFi 2372 owner will get a Novatel U998 USB modem.

The MiFi 2372, which converts Bell’s 3G cellular broadband signal into a Wi-Fi hotspot, is also available through Rogers Wireless, although the Rogers version does not appear to be affected by the problem.