Philly legislator: Don’t let Wi-Fi network die

Exactly one week after EarthLink Inc. said it would be shutting down its nearly citywide municipal Wi-Fi network in Philadelphia, one of the city’s elected officials is making political hay out of what he sees as a major loss for the city and its residents if the network can’t be resurrected.
City Councilman At-Large Bill Green told a group of wireless businesspeople that the network, which already covers 80% of the city, is a major asset and a boon for tourism and local business. He told the Mobile Monday Mid-Atlantic group that the network could save the city $3 million a year immediately and up to $15 million down the road.
Green and Terry Phillis, the city’s CIO, talked about the crime wave sweeping the city and how video surveillance cameras and other technologies running over the network and could potentially alleviate the problem.
Although EarthLink said it tried and failed to give the network to the city or a non-profit for free, the pair told the group that the city isn’t prepared to take on an asset that doesn’t yet cover the full city.
Even a network covering 80% of the city for free would incur millions of dollars in further rollout costs and maintenance. Understandably, the city has other more pressing responsibilities that it faces immediately.
“EarthLink has invested $20 million in building a city-wide Wi-Fi infrastructure that Philadelphia should be proud of – at zero cost to the taxpayer,” he said. “The market has now moved on and EarthLink’s original business model no longer stacks up. But the unique business opportunities that would be made possible by ubiquitous Wi-Fi coverage in Philadelphia more than justify the additional investment needed to complete the network build and keep Wireless Philadelphia alive.”