The city of West Hollywood, Calif., awarded PCC Network Solutions a contract to design and build a pilot outdoor public wireless mesh network that will enable the city to offer outdoor wireless Internet access to residents, businesses and visitors.

Free Wi-Fi Internet access will be available as a pilot along Santa Monica Blvd. between La Brea Ave. and Fairfax Ave. and will include Plummer Park and the West Hollywood Gateway Center courtyard. Users equipped with wireless devices along this stretch of Santa Monica Blvd., will be able to connect to the Internet without the use of traditional wired connections. Access is scheduled to be available in the fall of 2005.

"This is a win-win idea and continues the West Hollywood vision of having technology bring us together," said West Hollywood Mayor Abbe Land. "We encourage feedback so we can quickly assess the pilot project and adapt it for the whole city."

The Wi-Fi solution to be provided by the San Fernando Valley-based integrator includes MetroMesh routers from Tropos Networks. Daniel Faurlin, vice president of marketing and formerly director of wireless for PCC Network Solutions said the company "developed a solution that would not only meet the city's current application requirements, but would be flexible enough to seamlessly expand across the entire city should West Hollywood decide to increase their coverage area in the future. We are absolutely thrilled to have been selected as the integrator and solution of choice."