CITY BUILDINGS GO WIRELESS LANCASTER GOVERNMENT GETS STATE-OF-ART WEB ACCESS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Like university campuses and Starbucks parking lots, city-owned buildings are getting wireless Internet access.

Antennas positioned around Lancaster give city government staff high- speed Internet access and, as the system expands, will let businesses and residents around the city with properly equipped laptops and PDAs hook into the Internet without plugging in a wire.

``Lancaster is now a wireless city,'' said Mayor Frank Roberts.

City officials plan to show off the network Friday at the Antelope Valley Board of Trade Outlook Conference.

Officials said Lancaster's city government will be the first to use a new wireless technology that its developers said Wednesday will offer Internet connection speeds 300 times faster than T-1 lines.

Under an arrangement similar to a cable TV franchise, Los Angeles-based Xtreme RF Technologies, or XRF, is installing a wireless system for city government. Initially, the system will be used for high-speed Internet access, but it could be used later for fire, sheriff's and emergency services communications.

Part of the system is already in place with antennas at City Hall, the Lancaster Performing Arts Center and the city's baseball stadium, called The Hangar. The network should be complete by April 2.

The Lancaster network is no different from wireless-fidelity or ``wi-fi'' systems in operation in cities around the United States, but its developers promise much better things in the future: far higher connection speeds.

At wi-fi hot spots around transmitter-receivers in coffee shops, airport terminals and office buildings, people whose laptops or other devices are fitted with a plug-in attachment can hook onto the Internet at high connection speeds.

Most of the transmitters' ranges are fairly short - a few hundred feet - but the Lancaster units are expected to have ranges of up to 15 miles.

In April, XRF officials expect to begin offering high-speed wireless access for a monthly subscription. The company is looking at offering the service for $29.99 a month.

Initially, the data-transfer speed of the network for the city will be 11 megabytes per second, comparable to speeds offered by other wireless services.

What makes the XRF system different, officials said, is the company hopes to offer speeds of up to 500 megabytes per second within 16 months. Company officials said that they are offering the next generation of wireless technology and that Lancaster will be the showcase.

``I believe in the not-too-distant future, XRF Technologies will set a new standard for the industry,'' said company president Donald Yu.

In addition to high-speed Internet access, the system would be able to support voice communication and high-definition TV signals. The system will also allow for private intranet connections for businesses and individuals.

Company officials are looking at offering a tracking service which would allow a parent to use the wireless network to track a child carrying an electronic tracking device, said Bryon del Castillo, chairman of the company's board and chief technical officer.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Jarrod Morgan shows wireless Internet equipment being installed in Lancaster City Hall.

(2) Properly equipped laptops and PDAs have wireless Net access in Lancaster's new system.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer