Comments on: EarthLink to shut down wireless network in New Orleans http://www.muniwireless.com/2008/04/26/earthlink-to-shut-down-wireless-network-in-new-orleans/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=earthlink-to-shut-down-wireless-network-in-new-orleans Citywide WiFi, smart grid, enterprise wireless, public safety, mobile apps Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:38:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Glenn Strachan http://www.muniwireless.com/2008/04/26/earthlink-to-shut-down-wireless-network-in-new-orleans/#comment-33776 Glenn Strachan Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:10:41 +0000 http://www.muniwireless.com/?p=7707#comment-33776 Having just been in New Orleans once again I am shocked by the lack of understanding of the connection between broadband access and economic development. New Orleans in rebuilding unlike any other city has ever had to do in the history of America. NO lost nearly 1/3 of its population and the government has been slow in its overall plan of support for the rebuilding of NO. Some would suggest that the Bush administration does not want to rebuild the areas most devastated by Katrina because it was where the majority of the poorest lived in NO. So now we are presented with the chicken and the egg - how do you build business again when there are no patrons - how do you add patrons when there are no businesses. The extension of broadband wireless services to the hardest hits areas only makes sense. The 9th, as it is called, is being rebuilt, and the government - whether it is local, state or federal, needs to understand that the retention of this network is critical to the economic development of New Orleans. Having just been in New Orleans once again I am shocked by the lack of understanding of the connection between broadband access and economic development. New Orleans in rebuilding unlike any other city has ever had to do in the history of America. NO lost nearly 1/3 of its population and the government has been slow in its overall plan of support for the rebuilding of NO. Some would suggest that the Bush administration does not want to rebuild the areas most devastated by Katrina because it was where the majority of the poorest lived in NO. So now we are presented with the chicken and the egg – how do you build business again when there are no patrons – how do you add patrons when there are no businesses.

The extension of broadband wireless services to the hardest hits areas only makes sense. The 9th, as it is called, is being rebuilt, and the government – whether it is local, state or federal, needs to understand that the retention of this network is critical to the economic development of New Orleans.

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