Shanghai will have established a citywide wireless broadband network by 2010, probably the first city in the Chinese mainland to do this, the local IT commission and a telecommunication operator said yesterday.

The city will build trial networks in several districts this year and will explore a new business model for the wireless city, officials said at a joint press conference of the Shanghai Municipal Informatization Commission and China Telecom's local branch.

Shanghai Telecom and the commission signed agreements yesterday for the construction of the wireless network, which will allow anyone to access broadband at anytime from anywhere in the city.

At present, people can access a wireless network in Jiading District in the north of Shanghai. Wireless will probably be available in most areas in the city's central Huangpu District, where the municipal government buildings are located, by the end of the year, said Hua Ruiqiang, Shanghai Telecom's senior manager.

Once completed, it will be the first citywide wireless broadband network on the Chinese mainland.

Beijing's wireless network will be available only around the Olympic stadiums, hotels and travel sites.

Currently wireless access is available at the city's two commercial airports, some hotels and restaurants and Starbucks outlets in Shanghai.

"We have made several proposals for the business model and the technology of the network and it will use mainstream and advanced technology," Hua said.

Wi-Fi and WiMax (worldwide inter-operability for microwave access) - the evolved version of Wi-Fi with wider coverage and higher speed, will be adopted for Shanghai, according to IT firms like Cisco and Nortel, which say they have been selected to provide equipment for the network.

The network will be funded by the government, Shanghai Telecom and Shanghai Mobile though no decision has been made yet on whether to charge users, according to the IT commission.