Antonio Wants A Bigger One Than Gavin

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, fresh off his short-lived but much-noticed post-Grammy Award summit with Paris Hilton, yesterday announced plans to create a citywide free wireless internet service by 2009, called the L.A. WiFi Initiative.

"By giving every resident high-speed access, we will transform Los Angeles into a cutting-edge city across every neighborhood and every economic sector.

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"LA WiFi will help us meet the technology needs of our world-class media and creative industries, give a leg up to small businesses, plug every neighborhood directly into the knowledge-based global economy and make computer training programs for students an after-school reality."

The plan, which the Los Angeles Times estimates would generally cost $125,000 per square mile per year to cover the 498 square miles of our fair city (for a grand total of $62 million annually), would be paid for by a public-private partnership between the City of Los Angeles and the network operators.

Of course, the part that Antonio likes is that his (city's wireless network) will be bigger than Mayor Gavin Newsom's (proposed wireless network, the implementation of which was delayed yesterday by a vote the San Francisco Board of Supervisors). So there!