Chicago next on the broadband wagon

Chicago appears to be following the likes of Philadelphia, San Francisco and New York in an effort to build a municipal Wi-Fi network, according to an Associated Press story published Friday.

Chicago officials hope to blanket the city's 228 square miles with wireless broadband and plan to request proposals from technology companies this spring, the story said. The system could be up and a running as early a 2007, according to the city's chief information officer quoted in the story.