SoCal city establishing
wireless Web access over large area
Cerritos, Calif. - Scores of wireless networking transmitters
are popping up atop public buildings, traffic lights and
other structures in a bid to bring high-speed Internet access
to virtually every corner of this Southern California city.
The project is being touted by Aiirnet Wireless, its operator,
as the largest wireless networking, or Wi-Fi, deployment
in the nation, with broadband access provided to an 8.6-square-mile
area.
The city struck a deal with the company that allows Aiirnet
to place transmitters throughout the city free of charge,
said Annie Hylton, the city's public information manager.
The city, 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 couldn't verify Aiirnet's
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 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 company's
central office. Cable Internet access has not been an option,
either, Hylton said.
"We're pleased that our residents will at last have an option
for broadband that will be more affordable than is currently
available," Hylton said.
The service is being rolled out in phases, with access at
outside locations set to become available by mid- January,
followed by coverage for residential neighborhoods, Hylton
said.
About 95 transmitters were being used to give coverage to
the city's outdoors. Additional transmitters would be added
to cover residential neighborhoods.
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