By Marisa Beahm
The Reporter-Herald

LP Broadband, a Loveland Internet provider, began installing equipment Friday to offer free wireless Internet at the Loveland Sports Park. The free signal will be available to anyone at the park beginning March 24, the day the recreational soccer leagues begin, said Denise Montagu, the business development manager for LP Broadband.

The Internet signal will be live only during park hours, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Effort is being made to ensure the signal won’t bleed outside the boundaries of the park at 950 N. Boyd Lake Ave., Montagu said.

The Loveland City Council approved the installation in February. Gary Havener, the Parks and Recreation director, was supportive of LP Broadband’s proposal, because he didn’t see how it could hurt, he said.

To protect the approximately $2,000 worth of equipment from vandalism, it is being installed indoors or up high where possible, Havener said.

The Web access will be free, but when people connect to the Internet, they will be brought to the LP Broadband home page.

“We get some advertising, people get an amenity, and everybody wins,” Montagu said in January. Montagu said the wireless service will be convenient for parents, such as herself, who spend long days at the park for their children’s sports practices and games.

Wireless Internet won’t cause any more distraction than books, magazines, cell phones or simply talking to other spectators, Montagu said.

“The parents’ responsibility is to watch their children at the park,” she said.