Houston puts EarthLink Wi-Fi penalty to work

The $5 million penalty EarthLink paid to Houston for failure to begin building its municipal network on time bought the company nine months to decide what to do. Houston is not waiting. It’s using the money to finance digital inclusion programs and build out hot spots in low-income neighborhoods around the city.The $5 million penalty EarthLink paid to Houston for failure to begin building its municipal network on time bought the company nine months to decide what to do. Houston is not waiting. It’s using the money to finance digital inclusion programs and build out hot spots in low-income neighborhoods around the city.

The Houston Chronicle quotes Mayor Bill White, “One of the goals of the WiFi plan was to bridge the digital divide, and because of the city’s good contract, we have substantial money to invest in that.”

The city expects to spend $3.5 million on a digital inclusion program that would provide equipment and training and put free WiFi hotspots in 10 neighborhoods.The rest will fund other wireless initiatives for the city, including public safety.

EarthLink has yet to announce what it wants to do in Houston but all bets seem to be on them not continuing the engagement. A full build-out is expected to cost $50 million.

Click here to read the Chronicle’s story.