3Com Has Wireless Plans for Namsake Ballpark

Santa Clara-based 3Com Corp. wants to get its namesake ballpark wired.

The Silicon Valley company plans to install wireless equipment at San Francisco’s 3Com Park – formerly known as Candlestick Park – to let fans order food and look up statistics from their seats. The service will make its debut at the first San Francisco 49ers home game Sept. 10, first appearing in the stadium’s 94 luxury box seats.

3Com will lend handheld computers to attendees wishing to use the service and hopes to cover about one-third of 3Com Park’s 69,443 seats by season’s end. It is discussing the service with other stadiums nationwide.

The service is eventually expected to be accessible through Palm Pilots with wireless modems or built-in wireless access. 3Com spun off its Palm Pilot electronic organizer last month.

3Com earlier this month agreed to a two-year extension of its 1995 agreement to rename the 40-year-old ballpark.