EDITORIAL WOO-HOO FOR WI-FI WIRELESS CITY NETWORK A NICE IDEA, BUT AT WHAT PRICE?

WIRELESS Internet service is not only the wave of the future, but the wave of the present. Wi-Fi hot spots are everywhere, and mobile Internet devices are so numerous, it's impossible to keep track of them.

It appears that the wireless revolution is getting along just fine without the help of Los Angeles City Hall.

Perhaps creating a citywide Wi-Fi network, as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has proposed, is hardly a top priority for the people of Los Angeles.

By all means, if the mayor can, through his leadership and influence, help accelerate the process, that would be a good thing.

And if city government can, through selling franchises or leasing public infrastructure to private telecom companies, make Wi-Fi access universal in L.A., that would be a great accomplishment.

But the last thing L.A. needs is a cumbersome new public utility, or a major expense of public funds, to produce something the private sector is already quite ably producing on its own.

City Hall ought to first focus its resources and energies on improving the dreadful services it alone can provide -- such as policing and roadwork -- before venturing into new ones.