Officials have said that a Wisconsin county has been chosen as one of a dozen U. S. counties that could get free wireless broadband service in 2011.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Thursday that Kenosha County was chosen along with 11 others by County Executives of America for the launch of free broadband.

The newspaper also said that CEOA, an organization of elected officials from nearly 700 counties, has applied for $122 million in federal stimulus funds to assist in launching the free service in the selected counties.

The report also noted that the free Internet service, which would be provided by California-based M2Z Networks, would be faster than dial-up but slower than commercially available broadband services usually costing about $50 a month.

The Journal Sentinel has said that chairman Kevin Martin of the Federal Communications Commission has supported the idea of free or low-cost broadband, and has suggested auctioning off large amounts of airwaves to companies such as M2Z willing to set aside 25 percent of the capacity for free broadband. (With Inputs from Agencies)