Harvard College Library (HCL) and Harvard Arts and Sciences Computing Services (HASCS) will initate wireless ethernet services on their laptop loaners in Lamont Library in early March, officials said yesterday.

Lamont already loans four laptops to students. Later this month, the library will send two of the loaners to have the necessary wireless upgrade installed.

Linda Collins, Lamont's head of access services, said she anticipates the

machines will be available for student use by early March.

Wireless networking "transcievers"--or stationary Internet access points--have already been installed in the main reading room and reference area on the third floor.

"The reception and speed is wonderful," Collins said.

The technology employed for the new services is the same that has enabled wireless networking at a few other colleges and universities over the past two years. The technology, called the "IEEE 802.11b specification," provides a connecting speed of up to 11 megabits per second.

Administrators said they expect that the next generation of wireless technology will also be compatible with the equipment that will be offered at Lamont.