Browsing the Web from the Southern California city Cerritos 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 city"s 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 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.