Nothing is official yet but Philly news sources are reporting that a group of local investors will be taking over EarthLink’s municipal wireless network in Philadelphia. EarthLink wanted to shut down the network after failing to find a buyer. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the investors will offer free Wi-Fi service supported by advertising and charge local institutions (universities, hospitals) for secure citywide Wi-Fi access at a price. Philadelphia’s mayor is expected to make an official announcement today.
Perhaps if you would have used another vendor besides Nortel Networks for WiFi, you would have a great WIFI layout. their gear is as flawed as the company.
Philadelphia is not using Nortel equipment. In cities where the provider has pulled out, it’s not the equipment to blame, but the business model.
You can’t have one without the other. In this case I think it is both. For the city to become an anchor tenant you would need a decent network with QoS, low latency and enough bandwidth accross the network. So yes, the business model has not worked but nor has the equipment to support it.