The City of Philadelphia today approved EarthLink’s 15-square-mile Wi-Fi Proof of Concept area. That enables EarthLink to continue building the 135-square-mile Wi-Fi mesh network, slated for citywide completion in the third quarter of 2007.
EarthLink will finance, build and manage the wireless network, and provide Wireless Philadelphia with revenue sharing fees to help support the non-profit and its Digital Inclusion programs.
Donald Berryman, president, EarthLink Municipal Networks said, “We are working quickly to deploy the remaining 120 square miles so that Philadelphia residents have the ability to stay connected — no matter where they are in the City. “We expect to have about 5,000 customers paying by July and 12,000 by the end of the year,” said Berryman, who expects, “nearly 300,000 households and businesses will have access to our network by the end of May.”
EarthLink’s Philadelphia Wi-Fi service is promoting 1 Mbps service for $6.95 a month for the first six months, returning to the recurring rate of $19.95 a month thereafter. A 3 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload service is also available for $9.95 for the first six months, returning to the recurring rate of $21.95 a month thereafter.
EarthLink will also offer free Wi-Fi access to Philadelphia residents and visitors in designated free access areas throughout the City. To connect to EarthLink’s Wi-Fi network, customers must select the SSID “EarthLinkWiFi” or “WirelessPhiladelphia”. Consumers will then complete a few short steps and be connected to the Internet.
Customers with incomes up to 150% of the federal poverty level may be eligible for the city’s Digital Inclusion programs which provides service for $9.95 per month.
Wireless Philadelphia is a non-profit organization with the primary mission of “Digital Inclusion.” WP is partnering with community-based organizations throughout the City to deliver a bundle of services called “TEACH” for Training, Education, Access, Content and Hardware to qualifying families across the City.
Wireless Philadelphia’s vision is for Philadelphia — now among the least connected cities nationwide — to become the nation’s most connected city.
Philadelphia’s Drexel University and EarthLink agreed to extend the boundaries of Drexel’s Dragonfly wireless network for students, faculty and staff to EarthLink’s city-wide network. The University’s Dragonfly wireless network supports 28,000 registered wireless devices, making Drexel one the largest private networks in the world. The one-year trial program will begin in September.
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