With all the speculation and hand wringing surrounding the Philly
project it's nice to get a few details. I am curious to know what the
ISPs on the list think of the $12 wholesale price? Also it is
fascinating to read that instead of just renting out their pole tops to
the highest bidder and throwing the funds into the general revenues
(Hello NYC?) they are taking a different approach. Granted the devil is
in the details but it is a strong foundation. Increasing broadband
competition while also serving the public good and to boot providing
telecom services to the city... smart? I hope they can deliver on these
ambitions. NYC and the rest of the country is badly in need of a
sensible model to follow.
I hope everyone on the list takes note of one more important fact. The
Philly plan calls for little free Wifi. Municipal broadband has been
mistakenly identified as free Wifi many times on this list and
elsewhere. While NYCwireless has been involved in my "free Wifi and free
beer" projects it is not necessarily the sensible way to implement
municipal broadband. My standard disclaimer applies... PLEASE don't go
off topic into a political rant. The list seems to be degrading into
political mud slinging contest and I would rather shutdown the list then
have it become that annoying. Also there are plenty of appropriate
places on the Internet to have those debates..
- Dustin -
ps. I am hoping one of the 22 free hotspots is situated between Pat and
Ginos. Free Wifi and good Cheese steaks. Yum!
http://wifinetnews.com/archives/006332.html
Phila. Closes Deal with EarthLink, Releases Terms
By Glenn Fleishman
*The AP reports that Philadelphia has signed its contracts with
EarthLink
<http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/business/13992299.htm>*:
(http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/business/13992299.htm )The
deal includes 4,000 utility poles and $300,000 in utility payments from
EarthLink per year plus $2 million in advance payments against revenue.
These funds will be used to purchase 10,000 computers and training for
low-income families; Phila. has a huge computer ownership gap as well as
broadband and Internet access gap. The non-profit Wireless Philadelphia
will receive five percent of EarthLink’s revenue, which is roughly the
same as cable franchise fees. EarthLink will also provide $9.95 per
month accounts for up to 25,000 low-income households, and 22 free Wi-Fi
hotspots around down.
The contract spans 10 years and is estimated to cost $20 to $22 million
to fulfill. Note that this isn’t a different number from earlier
expectations. The network was originally expected to cost $10 to $12
million to build and $1m per year to maintain. Over 10 years, an
estimated $20-$22m conforms to that range.
The city government will receive 3,000 accounts—noted as free or
discounted—and 700 discounted “T-1” accounts, the AP reports, which are
really point-to-multipoint broadband wireless connections over the
Motorola Canopy aggregation network. Not mentioned here is Philadelphia
moving other chunks of its existing data and telecom spending to
Wireless Philadelphia and EarthLink; that amount was once estimated in
the millions per year.
EarthLink’s wholesale rate will be higher than originally projected at
$12 per month rather than $9 per month. Retail pricing isn’t noted here,
although $20 per month was the original target. However, EarthLink under
provisions of network-neutrality shouldn’t be able to underprice other
retail partners.
The next step? A 15-square-mile test network.
--
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