Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz announced Thursday that a wireless Internet system will be available in the downtown area by March 2006.

Cellnet and WFI will build and operate the new network, according to a release from the mayor's office. Don McDonell, spokesperson for Cellnet, said when AOL-Time Warner dropped the project in September, Cellnet joined with WFI, who was originally partnered with AOL, to finish what was started.

"We have been developing the project in recent months since AOL fell through," McDonell said. "We saw it as too great an opportunity to let pass."

According to McDonell, Cellnet will provide the wireless Internet on a wholesale basis to retail providers in the city. Prices for wireless service will be competitive, he added.

"The cost of the Wi-Fi connection will be on par with the cost of cable and DSL providers," McDonell said.

George Twigg, communications director for Cieslewicz, said most of the campus will be covered by the wireless connection in March. However, the rest of the city will have wireless capability early in 2007.

McDonell said Wi-Fi capability is a great thing to have on a college campus.

"This is great news for students," McDonell said. "You would be able to use your laptops anywhere. Your mobility wouldn't be restricted by your connection wire."

Twigg said the mayor recognized students' desire for wireless service, but that was not the driving force behind the push for Wi-Fi.

"The mayor saw that students could potentially be a huge market for this service," Twigg said. "Students with the service will be able to take their laptops to work on Library Mall, at a coffee shop or something like that."

Cieslewicz, in a release, highlighted the benefits of citywide wireless Internet access.

"This is exciting news for Madison residents, businesses and visitors," he said. "In addition to providing an important new service for Madison residents and businesses, it will further strengthen Madison's national reputation as a highly livable, business-friendly, technologically savvy community."

According to Twigg, the mayor has worked on bringing Wi-Fi to Madison for the past couple of years.

"A lot of people have laptops and a need for wireless Internet access now," Twigg said. "Wireless Internet is the way of the future, and the mayor wanted the City of Madison to be in the forefront on the movement."