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This week, the Lake Michigan resort community of Grand Haven became the first place in the United States to offer broadband Internet access via Wi-Fi citywide.

Every part of the 6-square-mile city, plus 15 miles out into the big lake, is now covered by wireless Internet.

What's more, the Wi-Fi service is cheaper than traditional cable or DSL Internet providers at just $19.99 a month for unlimited access to a home. If you want to add coverage for your laptop so you can be connected anywhere, it's another $5 a month.

Visitors to town - Grand Haven draws 2 million tourists a year - can use the system for $4.99 a day.

The basic $19.99 fee buys access at 256 kilobits per second, about five times faster than dial-up. Higher speed packages are also available.

A company called Ottawa Wireless Inc. ( www.ottawawireless.net) designed and operates the system under a 5-year agreement with the city. The Wi-Fi network is made up of about 60 antennas, most mounted on utility poles. They act as repeater stations and reach every home and every business in the city.

"We've done a lot of research on this, and while some other cities have certain parts of town or a couple blocks set for Wi-Fi, we're the first real city to have total Wi-Fi coverage within every inch of our boundaries," said Tyler van Houwelingen, Ottawa's chief executive officer.

He said the biggest challenge was getting the Wi-Fi signals to work around the city's numerous tall trees. But he's convinced that Wi-Fi is a broadband delivery service that will work almost everywhere.

Copyright © 2004. Detroit Free Press.