Today’s Inquirer reports that EarthLink will end wifi service for the troubled Wireless Philadelphia project on June 12.  Right now, it doesn’t look like any other company will take over operations — apparently, EarthLink couldn’t even give the network equipment away.

But you wouldn’t know that from the latest post on the WP Web site by CEO Greg Goldman, dated May 9:

“Wireless Philadelphia and the City of Philadelphia continue to work together to ensure a positive future for Philadelphia’s municipal wireless network and nationally-recognized Digital Inclusion program, the vision of which is to provide all citizens with access to essential technological resources for education, employment, and other life opportunities.”

Click here for more background info on Wireless Philadelphia — plus a pretty decent rant – by our own RayAna Park.

UPDATE (May 14) — WP now has a statement on their site:

“Today we received an announcement that EarthLink intends to discontinue operation of its Municipal Wi-Fi Network in Philadelphia. The reason cited was that negotiations with a certain party failed to come to a positive conclusion. The transfer of the EarthLink network is by definition a complex, time-intensive, multi-party transaction. Despite today’s announcement, Wireless Philadelphia and the City are still working actively together to identify alternatives for preserving this network and applying it to numerous civic, commercial and social purposes. We remain optimistic for an orderly resolution of this matter. Regardless, Wireless Philadelphia is utterly steadfast in its determination to extend internet access to all members of the community, and we intend to do everything in our power to continue the momentum generated by WP in support of Digital Inclusion.”

Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
on May 13, 2008 - 3:24 pm

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