MuniWireless

Philadelphia’s muni wireless network is in a holding pattern as it waits to see what EarthLink’s proposed sale of the network will mean to its future. Last week, in a interview with local radio station KYW, city Chief Information Officer Terry Phillis discussed the implications of the sale, calling it “by far the best alternative ” for the future of the network.

He acknowledged that finding an appropriate buyer will be challenging. Phillis said the buyer “would have to have a financial model that would make sense for them” and that a limited number of customers would likely accompany the purchase. He said he has not seen EarthLink marketing its commerical service in Philadelphia “for some time now.”

At 80 percent complete, the network is the largest muni Wi-Fi network in the U.S. and could be a plum for a buyer if the right strategic fit is found. EarthLink built the network to conform to a consumer model in which it expected to achieve revenue by selling speedier upgrades to the free and low-cost services the network was designed to provide. 

While the network failed to deliver on its commercial promise by delivering the paid subscribers that EarthLink sought, it was unusually successful on the social front, making Philadelphia a model success story in efforts to address the digital divide. Wireless Philadelphia has districuted computers and internet access to nearly 1000 low-income families in the city. Greg Goldman, CEO of WP, last month outlined the group’s plans for the future, predicting that EarthLink’s sale of the network would bring ” some good news and a fresh shot in the arm.” 

I recently wrote a lengthy article for New York University’s Journal of Legislation and Public Policy which will be published later this spring (we’ll co-publishing it on this site after its publication in the journal.) In it,  I gave an overview of muni-wireless and the diversity of business models we’ve seen emerging post-EarthLink. Public access, of course, is not the only driver of muni networks and, since EarthLink’s retreat from the market, we’ve seen more and more munis moving to wireless deployments as a means of supporting mobile applications for services such as automated meter reading, management of public transit, public safety enhancements and video surveillance in high-crime neighborhoods and high-traffic intersections.

These applications are not new. They were just eclipsed in the hury-burley days of almost daily announcements of new free city-wide deployments last year as local politicians eyed Philadelphia’s ambitions and decided they needed the same in their cities. The difference between Philadelphia and so many of the others is that Philadelphia has a network. And now that it’s there, there is no reason why it cannot support multiple services for the city even if it was launched specifically to address the digital divide. Craig Settles, a marketing consultant based in California, discussed some of city’s alternatives last week with The Philadelphia Bulletin.