INVISIBLE LINK

CITY COUNCILOR John Tobin wants to make Boston a wireless citywhere anyone could sit down on a park bench, turn on a laptop orhandheld computer, and access the Internet.

It's an exciting 21st-century idea. Tobin plans to hold a localsummit to explore it. A national summit held in Illinois last monthcould serve as a model of bringing together policy makers, thetechnical community, and organizations and businesses. The summitwould be followed by a public hearing.

Sensitive to issues of cost and feasibility, Tobin calls forbuilding gradually on existing wireless zones. He says the city canbuild on the wireless service offered at public library branches. Thenext step for wireless service could be expanding into the city'sMain Street areas. The city might not have to foot the bill byitself. Tobin suggests that companies could sponsor wireless zones inexchange for the chance to place ads on signs. The challenge would beensuring that ads are discreet, informative, and don't clutter publicspace.

The city might want to provide wireless service. For example, CityHall Plaza might attract more people if it offered wireless accessand more places to sit.

Michael Oh, owner of Tech Superpowers, a Boston consulting firm,says wireless service in public spaces can create more public andcommercial opportunities. One example is the NewburyOpen.net BostonMusic Project. NewburyOpen.net is a group of businesses that providewireless access on Newbury Street. The music project is invitinglocal bands and musicians to submit songs that will be placed onservers on Newbury Street. The first site will be the VirginMegastore. Anyone using the NewburyOpen.net wireless service in thestore's cafe will be able to listen to the songs.

Other cities are also exploring wireless options. Philadelphiaalready offers free wireless service at various locations, includingLove Park and the city's convention center. Mayor John F. Street isconsidering the huge undertaking of providing wireless service acrossthe entire city. He has appointed a committee to study the idea. Cityofficials say it could cost $10 million to install transmitters and$1.5 million to maintain them.

Jacksonville, Fla., offers free wireless service in severallocations, some in low-income neighborhoods. Residents can sign up toreceive donated computers - so far, 350 desktop computers have beencontributed. The project connects residents not just to the Web butalso to training and job opportunities as well as other services.This is the joint effort of city government, private companies, andnonprofit organizations.

Wireless access is a new frontier. The key step is to expandBoston's wireless architecture, then let people experiment.