Web surfers in the cafes along the four blocks of the city's Pine Avenue thoroughfare, within walking distance of the local convention center, can now log on free to a wireless WiFi network set up by the city and a group of technology companies, the city said on Monday.

WiFi, also known as 802.11b, is the most popular high-speed wireless Web technology.

It is used in homes and businesses and slowly expanding into public areas, largely due to the efforts of telecommunications companies like Deutsche Telekom's DTEGn.DE T-Mobile U.S.A., which have set up pay-as-you-go networks at coffee shops and airport lounges.

But many Internet advocates see WiFi as a free resource that will spread guerrilla style throughout the country.

Long Beach found that after setting up the partnerships it could offer the service for a cost to the city of about $3,000 per year.

"The extra business if nothing else is certainly going to offset that," said Bruce Mayes, a city economic development official who is project manager for the wireless zone. The portal also gives information on Long Beach businesses and facilities.

Long Beach intends to extend free wireless access to the local airport, one of the Los Angeles-area hubs, and then farther around the downtown Long Beach area.

Companies cooperating on the project include developer Development Tech, Color Broadband Inc., G-site Web Design, Intermec Technologies Corp and Vernier Networks.

Mayes said the national telecommunications companies that see big markets in WiFi networks had not been part of the discussions. "We haven't had any conversation with them at all," he said.