MuniWireless

Officials in Suffolk and Nassau counties aspired to cover 750 square miles with a municipal wireless network estimated to cost $105 million. Two pilot projects were to have been deployed by December by E-Path Communications, the private partner based in Tampa, Fla, that was selected for the job. But according to The Long Island Business News, “E-Path’s done none of the work.”

That’s not too surprising. We had doubts about this overly ambitious project from the start. E-Path promised free access…

Wireless Philadelphia has received a $50,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The organization has been unusually successful in attracting the support of local and regional organizations.  However, this is the first major national grant to come its way. According to a WP press release, the funds will be used to develop “a series of ‘microsites’ providing important health and social service resources to six vulnerable populations.” The College of Physicians of Philadelphia which sponsors PhillyHealthInfo.org will oversee the development effort.

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EarthLink’s retreat from the muni-wireless market has left municipalities scrambling for solutions to address their growing need for broadband connectivity. The company’s difficulties exposed the risks of municipalities hitching their broadband dreams to the market aspirations of private broadband providers. 

An interesting editorial in this week’s Eureka Reporter takes a critical look at the efforts of California’s Broadband Task Force to bring connectivity to the under-served communities in that state. “Unfortunately,” it laments, “the Broadband Task Force has chosen the seductive…