Dow Jones Newswire reports on some details of Earthlink’s agreement with the city of Philadelphia to deploy and operate a citywide Wi-Fi network. According to the story, “the city and Wireless Philadelphia - a nonprofit charged with overseeing the Wi-Fi initiative - have signed agreements with EarthLink,” and Mayor John Street has urged the city council to approve the 10 year deal.
The 135-square-mile network is expected to be completed next spring. The contracts call for EarthLink to rent space on 4,000 city light posts for its equipment, and pay the city $74 annually per light post - for a total of nearly $300,000 a year. EarthLink also agreed to give Wireless Philadelphia 5% of its access revenue.
The money will be used to provide 10,000 computers and training to children and low-income households. EarthLink will also provide Internet access for up to 25,000 low-income households at $9.95 a month, and give the city government free or discounted access. Moreover, EarthLink will operate free Wi-Fi hotspots at 22 locations.
Wireless Philadelphia said it would cost EarthLink between $20 million and $22 million to build and operate the network. The Wi-Fi speed will be at least 1 Megabit per second, slower than some DSL or cable connections but much faster than dial-up.
EarthLink will charge a wholesale rate of under $12 a month to other Internet service providers…up from the original estimate of $9. The goal is still to keep retail prices under $20 a month.
Mitch Shapiro at 11:49 AM|Comments(0)
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