A group of investors has bought EarthLink’s Philadelphia municipal wireless network. Among the investors are Mark Rupp and Derek Pew, executives at Boathouse Communications Partners, an investment firm, and Richard Rasansky, a local entrepreneur.. Dave Hanna, chairman of Tropos Networks, is also part of the group (note: the Philadelphia network uses Tropos equipment). They will expand the network and offer wired and wireless service. News sources are reporting that the new owner plans to target institutions around the city as key customers, but unlike other cities, Philadelphia itself has not made any commitment to be an anchor tenant. The city has not revealed any detailed plans to use the network for public safety and other municipal applications.

I have not read the terms of purchase, but I assume the investors paid next to nothing. That means the new network gets a fresh start. Still, they need to act quickly to meet the public’s expectations. People have complained that in some areas, there’s no wireless signal or even if there is one, they cannot get access to their email or to the Internet. To that end, they need to set priorities: where there are a lot of potential customers, that’s where they need to improve service before they expand to outlying neighborhoods.

Tags: earthlink, philadelphia