Open range

Computer users now can get free Internet access on parts of Capitol Hill through a new wireless fidelity “hot spot.”

Wireless fidelity — or WiFi — is an inexpensive, short-range technology that lets people with compatible laptops or personal digital assistants go online for free through a shared, high-speed Internet connection.

The Open Park Project, a D.C. nonprofit group of technology advocates, yesterday announced a new WiFi zone on Capitol Hill that covers the front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Library of Congress and Capitol Visitor’s Center, which is under construction.

D.C. Access, an Internet service provider in Southeast, handled the zone’s connection to the Internet. The company set up the local antenna that sends out the network connection for users on a nearby building on the Hill and a remote antenna to handle the connection to the Internet, said President Matt Wade.

Open Park, which got authorization from the Federal Communications Commission for the zones, plans to expand free Internet access to the Mall by midsummer.

Several businesses and universities nationwide have been using WiFi so employees and students can log on without having to be at the office or on a desktop computer.

Open Park pushed for the Internet access to put Washington on par with other cities offering public WiFi such as New York; Athens, Ga.; and Seattle, said co-founder Gregory Staple, a D.C. communications lawyer.

“We also wanted a showcase,” where D.C. lawmakers could use the latest WiFi applications, Mr. Staple said at a press conference in front of the Supreme Court.

Rep. Michael M. Honda, California Democrat and chairman of the Internet Caucus’ Wireless Task Force, endorsed the project, saying, “Washington, D.C., should be our showcase for democratizing natural resources and today’s advanced technologies.”

Open Park is only offering the free network connections in public areas. The goal is to have an entire WiFi zone from the Washington Monument to Capitol Hill, Mr. Staple said. That would allow tech-savvy tourists or Washingtonians to check the Web while visiting the monuments or taking a lunch break outside.

Open Park will monitor the first network while installing about five more antennas on the Mall between Second and 14th streets in the next few months.

By fall, the group will map out more locations on the Mall for WiFi access, Mr. Staple said.

But the free public Internet use comes with a price. The group will need $250,000, which it plans to get through donations from technology companies and private individuals, to pay for the installation of the antennas and upkeep of the networks to 2005, Mr. Staple said. He did not forecast the cost for 2005.

Tropos Networks Inc., a San Mateo, Calif., technology company, supplied Open Park with several antennas for the Mall project.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be a part of this and look forward to a successful partnership,” said spokesman Howard Robertson.

Open Park is talking with Tropos about more sponsorship of the project, said Mr. Staple, who would not say how many antennas were donated by the company.

The networks are also limited in how many users can get on at once. The Capitol Hill WiFi area can have up to 100 users on a first-come basis, Mr. Staple said. The group will add more networks depending on demand.

WiFi computer users have steadily increased in the past few years while prices for hardware to capture WiFi signals has dropped to as little as $60.