TWO buildings here yesterday launched a service which lets laptop computer users in and near them surf the Internet wirelessly.

The two buildings are UOB Plaza in Raffles Place and Shaw House in Orchard Road.

Handheld computer users will also be able to surf the Net using the service.

The buildings have been installed with base stations that communicate with the laptops using radio waves. The stations have a range of about 200 m or less.

Ten more such base stations will be activated in Orchard Road, Raffles Place and Boat Quay within the next four weeks.

In all, there will be 48 buildings with this service, making wireless surfing possible anywhere in these three areas.

The service is provided by Davnet, a broadband communications provider.

At UOB Plaza, the area within which wireless Net access can be made would be between UOB Plaza One and UOB Plaza Two, including the open space in between.

This broadband Net access can reach a speed many times that of a dial-up modem on a typical desktop computer.

Currently, most of Davnet's customers are corporations which are using this wireless service to access their corporate networks at broadband speed. But this service is also available to anyone who wants to have wireless broadband Internet access.

To use the service, users will have to install a device that slots into an expansion slot of their laptop.

The device costs between $300 and $500. Users must also subscribe to Davnet.

The service will give users unlimited broadband Net access. To benefit from this, existing Davnet customers will have to subscribe to Davnet at a promotional price of $30 a month. The promotional price for new customers is $70.

The promotion is expected to last for six weeks, after which existing Davnet customers pay $60 while new customers pay $100.