Wireless Communications

Southern California Edison Co. is taking a first step toward supporting municipal wireless Internet networks after holding up such projects in cities throughout the region for more than 18 months. The state's second-largest power utility has agreed to let EarthLink Inc. build a small network using Edison streetlights in Santa Ana as part of a wider-ranging trial of wireless gear. "This is long overdue," said Esme Vos of MuniWireless.com, an authority on such high-speed wireless projects.

Something was wrong with Juan Pablo Montoya's car. Not that you would have known by looking. The NASCAR rookie was running near the front in the first Busch series race of the year Saturday and, from the grandstands, appeared to have the car to beat. But to anyone who was listening, it was clear that looks were deceiving. "There's something wrong," Montoya told his crew chief. "It feels like we're misfiring."

A judge has halted legal proceedings in one of Qualcomm Inc.'s complaints that Nokia Corp. violated its wireless-technology patents. The move came as a deadline neared for the two companies to renew a high-stakes licensing agreement. Administrative Law Judge Robert L. Barton Jr. of the U.S. International Trade Commission gave no explanation for the indefinite delay in his two-sentence written order. A trial in the patent dispute had been scheduled to begin Monday.

Leap Wireless International Inc., operator of the Cricket and Jump mobile-phone services, reported a loss in the fourth quarter as it spent more to expand its coverage area. Its shares rose on Leap's subscriber forecast. The net loss was $39.4 million, or 60 cents a share, compared with profit of $4.95 million, or 8 cents, a year earlier, San Diego-based Leap said. Sales rose 37% to $314.5 million, topping the $312.8-million average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg poll.

MORE than a few obstacles stand in the way of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plan, unveiled with some fanfare last month, to blanket all 498 square miles of Los Angeles with wireless Internet access by 2009.

As Los Angeles and hundreds of other communities push to turn themselves into massive wireless hotspots, unsuspecting Internet users are stumbling onto hacker turf, giving computer thieves nearly effortless access to their laptops and private information, authorities and high-tech security experts say.

Here are some tips for safer Internet surfing from Roland Dobbins, a network engineer who helps develop security solutions for Cisco Systems. Do it yourself Connect and disconnect from the Internet manually by right-clicking on the wireless Internet icon and either enabling or disabling the connection. This prevents your computer from automatically searching out possibly fake Internet access points without your knowledge.

Sprint Nextel Corp. is adding satellite navigation to its wireless data plans to set itself apart from competitors. The service, which provides driving directions and help locate businesses, will be included in plans starting at $20 a month, along with Internet browsing, digital radio and streaming video, the Reston, Va.-based company said. Rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless sell navigation separately from other services for $9.99 a month, an option Sprint also offers.

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday eased rules on wireless Internet services sold by telecommunications companies including AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. The wireless broadband order frees Internet access on hand-held devices from "commercial mobile radio service" rules that apply to wireless telephone services.

No one in the evening crowd at a Starbucks in Pasadena knew Humphrey Cheung. But Cheung, quietly sipping hot chocolate and working on his laptop, knew things about them. Several tables away was a guy sitting alone with his own laptop. "He's starting a business," Cheung said. And the young couple in the far corner? "They're getting married," he confided. Cheung isn't psychic. He had hacked into the coffee shop's wireless Internet connection on his Toshiba laptop.