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The launch marks the country's first commercial deployment of white space spectrum, the unused frequencies between over-the-air television channels left over by the switch to digital television. Data can travel further and past more obstacles in these "Super Wi-Fi" white spaces, which gives it an edge over Wi-Fi, which is short range and has difficulty penetrating obstacles like trees.

The Spectrum Bridge company completed a year-long series of FCC-mandated "comment periods" and partnered with KTS Wireless' white space radio to link access points and cameras from various vendors. Visitors to the popular public park and garden can access the Internet on mobile devices free and view live-streamed broadcasts of the garden's flowers online, while the cameras provide security.

The launch coincides with last month's formation of the California-based WhiteSpace Alliance, or WSA, modeled on the Wi-Fi Alliance, a nonprofit, international organization organized in 1999 to promote and set standards for the Wi-Fi industry.

As the need for spectrum, which is a finite resource, continue to climb, several initiatives have included white spaces to boost airwaves.

For example, the Congressional debt "super committee" considered white spaces as part of government-backed spectrum auctions, even though it was unable to generate consensus on anything.

But white spaces use isn't without controversy. Legislators conflict over how to deal with the emerging technology, which companies like Google, Microsoft and others are exploring with FCC permission.

This summer, Microsoft, BT and Sky announced they were testing "white space" spectrum for a broadband mobile network in the U.K. The consortium of companies held trials on a new service that uses white space channels, potentially freeing up the shortage of spectrum affecting the wireless industry.

Unlike regular spectrum, which is regulated by owners, the Federal Communications Commission declared unlicensed spectrum free to use.

The launch and industry support may help boost wider adoption of the technology, as will the promise it holds to change Internet access in the U.S., especially for rural customers. The technology could be used to run connections to white space hotspots to link neighborhoods or whole communities.

If testing confirms the technology doesn't interfere with TV signals or cause other issues, it holds potential to potentially open up the log jam plaguing carriers, as they look for new ways to deliver high-bandwidth services to increasingly data-hungry customers.

Wilmington was chosen as the site of the first commercial network because its early shift from analog to digital TV gave it early access to white spaces. Since 2010, the city's topology and coastal location has provided a suitable testing ground for the technology.