Cariocas (the people of Rio) will benefit from a new telecommunications feature from May onwards as a Wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) service will be implemented in the Copacabana Beach and Baixada Fluminense areas as a result of a Digital Seashore Project initiative. Free Internet access will be provided on a sign-up basis to users who have a laptop computer or any other Wi-Fi compatible apparatus. According to Rio de Janeiro Secretary for Science and Technology Alexandre Cardoso, a statewide Wi-Fi network should be put in place in the next two years.

For the Secretary, the travel and retail trade industries will benefit from the novelty. "The Wi-Fi technology will enable tourists in Copacabana to take cell phone pictures on the beach and send them directly to someone back in their home countries. In the Baixada Fluminense area, retail trade will definitely move into the Internet era, boosting on-line sales", said Alexandre.

Plans include expanding the network around the Guanabara Bay area and reaching the rest of the State in two years, at a total cost of R$ 40 million. Funds will be provided by a Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Faperj) and Ministry of Science and Technology partnership.

The idea is based both on New York City's experience of reduced violence rates - 30 percent - following the implementation of a Wi-Fi network, and the project that has earned Piraí, Rio de Janeiro, international awards for providing citywide Wi-Fi connection.

Alexandre Cardoso also said, at least during 2008, the system should be maintained by the Government at a cost of R$ 50 thousand. A future private sector partnership, however, could be considered.