Treasure Hunt gets digital update in WiFi Venice

By Roberto Bonzio

MILAN (Reuters) - Treasure Hunting will go fully digital on Friday night when players chase a mysterious oriental wand with special powers along the narrow streets and bridges of Venice.

Discovering hidden corners far from tourist crowds, hunters will get route indications and keywords through cellphones and laptops to celebrate venerable Venice's big jump into the future -- getting fully wired.

"Ten thousand kilometers of fiber optic, a lot of hot spots, covering all the public libraries ... many European cities have WiFi, no other has this kind of wide coverage," said Michele Vianello, deputy mayor of Venice, who oversaw the project.

Under the plan, which gives free broadband WiFi to residents, students and businesses in the lagoon city, tourists and visitors will pay 5 euros a day for the service.

Venice city council financed the project with 10 million euros and is now looking for private capital to develop it, Vianello said.

The fast WiFi, between 20 and 100 megabytes, will enable development of e-commerce and cable television, freeing the heart of the old city from unsightly antennas. It should also provide a big competitive advantage for business, Vianello said.

"And we'll put on the Web, part of the precious Venetian cultural heritage ... we're starting to tell the story of another Venice," he added.

HI-TECH GAME READY TO EXPORT