That’s what a Sohu IT report says (h/t to Brendan for this, and to Rita Yang for the translation).

People involved in Beijing’s Wi-Fi network construction said at the World Wi-Fi Summit that the first phase of the Wi-Fi Beijing project is expected to be completed at the end of the year, and all areas frequented by foreigners would enjoy Wi-Fi services.

Hongtao Guo, vice president of Zhongdian Huatong, a company that is in charge of the construction of broadband and wireless networks, said that the first phase is expected to be completed at the end of 2007 and will cover the CBD area, Olympic Stadium, and hotels. The second phase, starting from 2008, will cover campuses, technology parks and the downtown are within the Third Ring Road. The following 3rd phase will cover the urban area.

According to the plan of Beijing, Wi-Fi service will cover all areas of Beijing in 2010.

“We’ve decided to use a blended network with WiMAX (IEEE802.16d) plus a Wi-Fi mesh, and this may reduce costs when combining WiMax with its high coverage advantage with the high-volume, small coverage of a Wi-Fi mesh,” said Guo Hongtao.

No information on pricing so far. Let’s hope it happens as planned!