Vancouver: A Vancouver Internet company is claiming the world’s first live wireless broadcast to cyberspace.

Itv.net is a year-old company that broadcast at least one live event per day of the Vancouver International Film Festival and accompanying Trade Forum.

B.C. Premier Glen Clark’s keynote address to the Trade Forum October 9 was the first successful wireless transmission, says itv.net marketing director Steve Everitt. By using two wireless systems between the ballroom where Clark spoke and ibm in Vancouver, itv.net was able to link successfully with the backbone of the Internet.

Clark’s address was carried live with stop-motion video and continuous audio for about one hour and generated between 2,000 to 3,000 hits from users in Japan, Australia, Europe and the u.s.

On October 10, itv.net repeated its feat with live wireless Internet coverage of director Gus van Sant’s interview that ran for two-and-a-half hours.

The Trade Forum’s Toon Talk session and New Filmmakers’ Day were also carried by wireless to the Internet.

Everitt says that itv.net – which is owned by president William Mutual – has a goal to become a 24-hour entertainment channel complete with regular programming. The web site is www.itv.net and live video users require VDOLive or StreamWorks software to receive (rather than download) the company’s Internet signal.

Itv.net is sponsored by Digital Equipment of Canada Ltd.