EarthLink selected for Philadelphia Wi-Fi network

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Update: EarthLink selected for Philadelphia Wi-Fi network
EarthLink to finance, build and manage network, then share revenue
with Wireless Philadelphia initiative

By Grant Gross, IDG News Service
October 04, 2005
<http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/10/04/HNearthlinkwifi_1.html?
source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/10/04/
HNearthlinkwifi_1.html>

The city of Philadelphia has selected EarthLink to deploy a citywide
wireless broadband network, the largest municipal Wi-Fi network in
the U.S., the company announced Tuesday.

The Wi-Fi deployment in the U.S.' fifth largest city is expected to
be finished by the fourth quarter of 2006, EarthLink said. EarthLink,
a large Atlanta-based Internet service provider, will deploy a mesh
Wi-Fi network covering 135 square miles (349 square kilometers).

Under the terms of the EarthLink proposal, no city or taxpayer
dollars will be used to fund the project. EarthLink will finance,
build and manage the wireless network, and share revenue with the
city's Wireless Philadelphia initiative.

The infrastructure portion of the contract totals about $10 million,
said Dianah Neff, the city's chief information officer and acting
chairwoman of Wireless Philadelphia, a nonprofit group set up by the
city. EarthLink's proposal was one of 12 the city received from
vendors, she said.

EarthLink's proposal to pay for the cost of building the network was
among the major reasons the city selected the provider, Neff said.
The city's request for proposals did not require that the Wi-Fi
vendor pay for the cost of building the network; the city had
considering using bonds or private funding to allow Wireless
Philadelphia to pay for construction, she said.

Philadelphia's plan to build a citywide Wi-Fi network has met
criticism from Verizon Communications Inc., which offers DSL (Digital
Subscriber Line) and wireless broadband service to the Philadelphia
area. Verizon and other incumbent telecommunications carriers have
questioned whether tax dollars should fund Internet services in
competition with private companies and if cities understand the long- term
costs of maintaining Wi-Fi networks.

EarthLink's funding proposal addresses those criticisms, Neff said.
"We have believed from the beginning that the nonprofit could take on
the [funding] risk," she said. "EarthLink stepping up and offering to
fund this at their risk ... was very important to us."

Two other bidders proposed alternative funding arrangements, Neff said.

EarthLink's proposal also best matched Wireless Philadelphia's goals
of strengthening the city's economy and improving its neighborhoods
by providing citywide broadband access, Neff said.

[snip]

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