Two more EarthLink deployments on hold
Muni networks in the twin beltway cities of Alexandria and Arlington,Virginia, have joined cities in a holding pattern as EarthLink determines its future in the market.Muni networks in the twin beltway cities of Alexandria and Arlington,Virginia, have joined cities in a holding pattern as EarthLink determines its future in the market.
This latest report echoes stories out of Houston and St. Petersburg reported earlier this week. As Esme noted in a comment to our report on those deployments, too many muni contracts too closely resemble one another.
I suppose it’s understandable in a world where politicians find it more expedient to stake their careers on anti-tax campaigns than programs for progress that cities are not willing to invest in a service so vital as broadband. But the reality is that broadband infrastructure is a valuable public asset–een when it is privately operated–and one that is essential to a forward-moving economy. The political insistence on pegging its future to copy-cat contracts that shun any public investment in the public’s future flies in the face of a lesson my frugal family taught me–you get what you pay for.
A curious twist to this latest story: Alexandria is evidently planning to shut down the free hot spot service it’s been offering residents in anticipation of EarthLink making city-wide service available. We’ll see… EarthLink is expected to make announcements on its pending deployments next month.
Click here to read about the stalled deployments.
Click here to read about the hot spot shutdown.
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As Sprint found out trying to sell its 2.5GHz service from Mt. San Bruno, wireless is just not economical enough for the operator to maintain. They weren’t recovering their cost of installation from a year’s worth of fees, and so they quit selling the product. Imagine managing tens of thousands of subscriptions, 10% of which are acting up or generating trouble calls at all times. The technology, unfortunately, is simply not robust enough for the uses to which it’s trying to be put.
A GSM cell system would have filled SF’s wireless bid spec, but no GSM providers were invited. Use the right wireless technology or don’t bother – please. Now that Optical Fiber is so dramatically cheap, all the people pushing wifi have to catch up and retool – and many, including the SF Mayor, will still refuse to abandon wifi, out of ignorant stubbornness, or just ignorance.
We want a service that works – well. Fiber will do that handsomely; wifi doesn’t stand a chance of delivering uniform service, even to a single user. Of course companies that thought they were going to get rich from wifi are backing out: there’s no confidence there anymore – but we knew that would happen far in advance.