Those discussions have fallen apart, and now Earthlink has notified customers that its decomissioning the network entirely, and removing all of the equipment.

So the poster-child of Muni-wireless is now back at square one.

Josh Breitbart has good coverage about the happenings in Philadelphia, and through New America Foundation released an excellent report on the subject, “The Philadelphia Story: Learning from a Municipal Wireless Pioneer”.

What does this say about muni-wireless in general?

Certainly, Philadelphians will need to find alternative broadband options, and the free public-space hotspots will be going away, taking away a valuable public resource for the city.

But the single most important lesson from this experience is that single-source solutions for muni-networks are a bad idea. If Wireless Philadelphia followed their founding purpose instead of being tempted into a devil’s bargain with Earthlink to hand over the entirety of the network to the company, the story today would be very different. Wireless Philadelphia, which would have owned the network and contracted out its building and operations, would merely need to find a new partner to take over those roles. The city’s network would continue on, and users would have experienced few, if any, hiccups in service.

Instead, the network will now be disassembled and all of the work done over the past few years by the non-profit was for naught. People currently using the network (including a number of low-income families) will be left without a broadband connection, and Wireless Philadelphia will have to go back to the drawing board and come up with an alternative solution for bridging the digital divide, a process that will likely take months, if not years.

Contrast Philadelphia with Boston’s approach. In an insightful report, the Boston Wireless Task Force sketched out a plan for creating 2 competitive marketplaces that will drive the creation of the city-wide muni-wireless network. On one side, a number of infrastructure providers will all provide last mile networks, each within a different part of the city. Those networks will all wind up funnelling thorugh an network exchange managed by the Wireless Boston non-profit. On the other side, ISPs (and any other organization) will be able to purchase transport on the last-mile wireless network at competitive prices, and provide customers with a choice of companies from which to purchase retail wireless ISP service. Enabling all of this interconnectivity are standards-based hardware and software interfaces, and common routing and management interfaces.

In Boston, if an infrastructure provider exists the business, another company can step in an take over the operations of that part of the network–one that is likely already providing service in another part of the city. If an ISP decides to stop reselling the wireless network, there will be other ISPs who can provide service.

Looking back, its hard to miss the fact that Philadelphia chose the worst path. They had the option, early on, of taking a more Boston-like approach, but instead opted for a short term political win at the expense of a lasting solution. In reality, Philadelphia’s muni-wireless network, if they choose to rebuild it, will likely cost even more than it would have if they took a more progressive approach from the beginning. And its not lost on anyone that Philadelphia’s Wireless Task Force recommended a more competitive and holistic approach similar to (though different in certain ways) Wireless Boston’s current approach.

Take a trip down to Wagner Park! It has one of the most beautiful views of New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty.

Wagner Park Gets Hotter With Wi-Fi

NYCwireless Comes to Battery Park City

NEW YORK, NY, April 24, 2008 — Battery Park City Authority’s already hot Wagner Park is becoming even hotter with the introduction of free Wi-Fi service which was introduced this past fall.

The wireless service will be available from Pier A in Lower Manhattan, up Battery Park City’s promenade, to 1st Place.

“We are attracting as many laptops as we are sun bathers, so it seemed like a natural service to offer our residents and visitors,” said James Gill, Chairman of the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority. “Public parks are become increasingly wireless friendly, and given how extraordinarily popular Wagner Park is, we needed to keep up with the times.”

Chairman Gill predicted that based upon how successful and popular the program is already, that Battery Park City would likely expand it to its other parks and public spaces. “From out green technology, state of the art parks, and our widely admired public art, Battery Park City has always been on the cutting edge of design and technology. This service is simply a natural progression of that mission,” said Gill.

The wireless service is provided by NYCwireless, a not-for-profit that builds and helps bring free public Wi-Fi networks to City public spaces.

“We are immensely proud and thrilled to be able to work with Battery Park City Authority and light up this wonderful park,” said Dana Spiegel, Executive Director of NYCwireless. “Wagner Park is one of the great New York City views, and instead of being cooped up in the office you can enjoy it and still stay connected.”

The broadband network set up by NYCwireless is free for anyone to use. Anyone can get a free account by connecting to the Wagner Park hotspot (or any other NYCwireless hotspots) and signing up with a valid email address. The hotspot will feature local information for park visitors to learn about the area and events at the park.

About The Battery Park City Authority

The Battery Park City Authority is a public benefit corporation created by the New York State Legislature in 1968 to develop a 92-acre site at the southwestern tip of Lower Manhattan. Parcels are leased to developers who build in accordance with BPCA guidelines, which now incorporate green provisions mandating state-of-the-art environmental specifications to maximize energy efficiency and minimize water usage, among other provisions.

About NYCwireless

NYCwireless (http://www.nycwireless.net) is a non-profit organization that advocates and enables the growth of free, public wireless Internet access in New York City and surrounding areas. NYCwireless, founded in 2001, is an all-volunteer organization with many active members in the New York metropolitan area, across the United States of America, and around the world. In partnership with city parks organizations, business improvement districts and local non-profit organizations, NYCwireless has built free, public wireless hotspots at Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, Wagner Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Jackson Square Park, Union Square Park (in partnership with commercial wireless Internet provider TowerStream), Stuyvesant Cove Park (the first fully solar powered hotspot in New York), Tompkins Square Park, Bowling Green Park, City Hall Park, the South Street Seaport, and the Winter Garden, among others. In addition, NYCwireless worked with Community Access to build free wireless networks in three NYCHA-licensed affordable housing residences. NYCwireless also served as a member of the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee.

The problem here is that the Net is seen by too many hotels and airports as a way to make money rather than to keep customers happy. That’s because it’s seen as a private business rather than a public utility. It would be better for everybody if we admitted that it’s the latter, even when private businesses provide access to it.

Yes, it has costs. So do electricity, water, waste collection and road maintenance, and neither airports nor hotels charge for those — at least not Thing is, the Net is not a steady scarcity, such as parking. Nor is it simple. But making it gratis removes the billing complexities that are one of its main costs and a frequent cause of failure.

So here’s a message to the aviation and hospitality industries: You’re not in the pay toilet business. Quit trying to turn the Internet into one.

Event Website
Registration Required ($30 for NY:MIEG members, $50 for non-members)

Both I and Laura Forlano will be on the panel at the breakfast, along with Eric Bader, formerly the top digital executive at MediaVest, and Ari Zoldan, CEO and Founder of Launch 3 Communications, and will be moderated by Sree Sreenivasan, Dean of Students at the Columbia School of Journalism.