A SOLUTION to part of the city's high speed internet and e-mail needs could be in the air.

A Worcester company, Serv-IT is bringing Air-Band, a wireless alternative to broadband, to the city.

Unlike broadband, this system does not require the Asymetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) connections, which are only available in some parts of the city, meaning areas such as St John's cannot get broadband.

Air-Band went on sale this week and if 100 companies sign up by February it will go live by the end of March, offering the service through a mast at Hindlip for North Worcester.

At first Air-Band will only be available within a three mile radius of the mast, but Serv-It general manager Redmond Peel says it could soon expand to St John's and Pershore.

"It will not be massively expensive once we have got it started in North Worcestershire to expand to all of Worcester," said Mr Peel.

The signal is beamed to a small antenna on the outside of a building which is connected to PCs through a box the size of a large desktop calculator.

The advantage of Air-Band is that, unlike broadband, it can guarantee a certain level of speed connection in a service level agreement.

"We also have mobile devices. This means you can work away from base, such as putting a camera in field. This is because there is no need for wires," Mr Peel said.

"Because we are a local service, people will be able to speak to someone within five minutes of calling if there are problems, rather than these automated systems.

Dr Brian Gladman who has been campaigning for broadband in St John's said wireless internet could be a viable alternative.

Even though some parts of the city are on telephone exchanges which have been enabled to offer the service, they were too far away for the necessary cables to be installed.

"I think you'll find the people in Warndon Villages will be very interested in Air-Band."

"The only difficulty I have heard of is the transmitter mast has to be in a line of sight."

However, Mr Peel said the signal could still get through interference from the likes of trees.

Dr Gladman said he would probably sign up with whichever company, Serv-IT or BT, brought high-speed internet to St John's first.