Cerritos is in the first phase of a project to establish wireless Internet access from virtually anywhere in the city.CERRITOS, Calif. (AP)—Browsing the Web from this Southern
California city may soon become an outdoor sport.
The first phase of a project to establish citywide wireless
Internet access is slated to begin next month. Ultimately, anyone
with a laptop or wireless device will be able to surf the Web from
virtually anywhere in the citys 8.6-square-mile area.
Scores of wireless networking transmitters are being placed atop
public buildings, traffic lights and other structures to blanket
the city.
The project is being touted by Aiirnet Wireless, its operator,
as the largest wireless networking, or Wi-Fi, deployment in the
nation.
The city struck a deal with the company that allows Aiirnet to
place transmitters throughout the city for free, city spokeswoman
Annie Hylton said.
Cerritos, meanwhile, agreed to buy 60 subscription accounts,
each at $34.95 a month, for its field employees.
Brian Grimm, spokesman for the Wi-Fi Alliance, which certifies
and promotes the technology, said he couldnt verify Aiirnets
claim, but noted Cerritos is the only city so far that has said it
intends to establish citywide wireless access.
Wi-Fi radiates an Internet connection that multiple computers
within 300 feet can share at fast speeds. Wi-Fi hot spots have
cropped up over the last couple of years in coffee shops, hotels
and airports in bigger U.S. cities.
Some small towns, including Half Moon Bay, Calif., and Athens,
Ga., have started experimenting with Wi-Fi as a way to provide
relatively cheap, easy access to high-speed Internet.
The 51,000 residents of Cerritos, located 26 miles southeast of
Los Angeles, have not had DSL broadband access to the Internet
because the city is too far from the telephone companys central
office. Cable Internet access has not been an option, either,
Hylton said.
Residents in Cerritos have asked city officials to find a way to
bring broadband to the city for some time.
"Were pleased that our residents will at last have an option
for broadband that will be more affordable than is currently
available," Hylton said.
Mobile & Wireless 
