CATHEDRAL PARK, ELLICOTT SQUARE TO BECOME WIRELESS INTERNET SITES

it's free in a growing number of wireless Internet "hot spots"scattered around downtown Buffalo.

New zones have been switched on at the Erie Basin Marina, NiagaraSquare and parts of City Hall, organizers of the service announcedthis week.

Buffalo Wi-Fi.org, a public-private group, is sponsoring thetransmitters that beam Internet connectivity over a 300-foot radius.

Wi-Fi technology, short for Wireless Fidelity, allows users witha compatible modem to connect with the Internet. Users of theBuffalo sites can register by providing their e-mail address.

The new zones add to the city's prototype hot spot in LafayetteSquare, which launched last summer.

Wi-Fi backers hope that making the Internet an urban amenity willboost downtown's appeal, indoors and out.

"It makes it a lot more convenient to conduct business withoutlooking for a plug all the time," said Les Hoffman, director oftechnology for the Erie County Industrial Development Agency.

The IDA is a leader of the Buffalo Wi-Fi organization. The Cityof Buffalo contributed some of its Internet bandwidth for the newzones, which also got help from discounts on equipment from Ciscoand a grant from Verizon, Hoffman said.

Four transmitters blanket most of the marina with connectivity,which is beamed down from antennas mounted on City Hall, he said."We don't guarantee it'll work in every spot," he said, but most ofthe marina should be connected -- including the slips and waterways.

Coming soon are zones in the Ellicott Square lobby and nearby inCathedral Park. ChoiceOne Online, an Internet company, will be themain sponsor behind those zones.

"Hopefully in early September we'll go live to the public," saidEric Nagel, manager of operations.

Also being contemplated is a zone that would stretch partway upElmwood Avenue, and another centered on the old Apollo Theater onJefferson Avenue at Utica Street, Hoffman said.

"We're willing to help anyone who's willing to put some of theirown time and effort into providing Internet access," he said.

e-mail: fwilliams@buffnews.com