Remember the PhillyFi project that EarthLink was working
on? The one in progress for a while now, intended to blanket the City of
Brotherly Love in 802.11? Well, Philly's officially disclosing some details of the deal, if you're so interested,
and it looks like the provisions are pleasantly pro-consumer. In addition to charging ISPs $12 to resell access to
customers (the goal is to keep "full price" under $20 per month) and giving low-income households access for
$10 a month, EarthLink is paying the city $74 per annum for each WiFi lamppost operated (of which there are 4,000,
totaling about $300,000 per year) and handing over 5% of its revenues, which the city will apparently be funneling into
10,000 computers and training for kids of said low-income households. Whether you're paying about $20 (full price), $10
(low-income household), or almost nothing (city government, etc.), you're still getting a 1Mb wireless line for way
less than you'd be paying for other forms of broadband; now to figure out how to duplex these connections and start
getting some serious speeds.
Remember the PhillyFi project that EarthLink was working
on? The one in progress for a while now, intended to blanket the City of
Brotherly Love in 802.11? Well, Philly's officially disclosing some details of the deal, if you're so interested,
and it looks like the provisions are pleasantly pro-consumer. In addition to charging ISPs $12 to resell access to
customers (the goal is to keep "full price" under $20 per month) and giving low-income households access for
$10 a month, EarthLink is paying the city $74 per annum for each WiFi lamppost operated (of which there are 4,000,
totaling about $300,000 per year) and handing over 5% of its revenues, which the city will apparently be funneling into
10,000 computers and training for kids of said low-income households. Whether you're paying about $20 (full price), $10
(low-income household), or almost nothing (city government, etc.), you're still getting a 1Mb wireless line for way
less than you'd be paying for other forms of broadband; now to figure out how to duplex these connections and start
getting some serious speeds.