CYBERSPACE —The concept of cities enabling their residents to go online through a government-provided network has been working out well in some places.Minneapolis built its wi-fi system to connect city agencies together and as an assist tool for public safety efforts and had the system tested with a major bridge collapse this year. Corpus Christi’s system was good enough to sell to EarthLink this year and the company will be letting the city continue to use it while charging locals $20 a month for the service.
In addition to paying for the online network, EarthLink also committed to providing some funding for Wireless Philadelphia, which subsidizes internet service for Philadelphia’s low-income households and helps provide training and equipment.
After Philadelphia came online, many American cities embraced the free or low cost wi-fi for residents idea, most prominently San Francisco, which wanted to help support the system with advertising.
EarthLink, however, isn’t the happiest camper in the forest over the profits they have not been making and they pulled out of contracts in Houston and San Francisco. It also announced last month that it will not be bidding on any other municipal city wi-fi programs. EarthLink pulling out of this industry made Chicago pause their wi-fi plans.
However, some are showing that muni wi-fi plans are not dead — they have just been resting. In Silicon Valley, CA, there are plans to united 40 cities in four counties in one network.
“Clearly investors are shaken by what is happening in the industry,” said Seth Fearey, vice president and chief operating officer of Wireless Silicon Valley, the group spearheading the project, to CNET. “And that is affecting us. But we are confident that will be able to convince people that our approach is different.”
Wireless Silicon Valley hopes to create a wireless broadband network that can be used as an economic development tool. The idea is that businesses in industries, such as construction or health care, can use the network to allow their remote and mobile workers to communicate using a complete wireless network.
“A network of this size and magnitude will need more than just city contracts to sustain it,” said Fearey. “Cities are a good starting point, but they can’t carry the entire load, which is why we are going to industries and businesses within the region to develop applications.”
