The city of Philadelphia's grand experiment to blanket its 135 square miles with wireless high-speed Internet access is being closely watched by municipalities across the U.S. that are pursuing similar initiatives. While Philadelphia's project, which edged closer to reality with an announcement on April 7, is more than a year away from completion, it has sparked an intense debate over whether cities have any business in the broadband industry.
At issue are the following questions: Are broadband services better handled by the public or private sector? Can a wireless broadband network, commonly known as Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity), be used to help more low-income people gain online access, bridging what is commonly known as the digital divide? Will projects become caught up in politics? Should Internet access be viewed as city infrastructure, like telephone poles or city streets?
Big Cities vs. Small Cities
While the answers to those questions are yet to be determined, they are part of what makes Philadelphia -- the first city of its size to try a wireless broadband project on such a large scale -- so interesting, say experts at Wharton. "Until cities actually do [install Wi-Fi] it's hard to know what will happen," says Wharton legal studies professor Dan Hunter.
On April 7, Philadelphia Mayor John Street announced the formation of a non-profit organization to build a city-wide wireless broadband network. The city is seeking bids from technology companies to construct the network and from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to buy access to it, on a wholesale basis, for between $10 and $20 per user. The service would then be resold to residents, with low-income users getting price breaks.
Although Philadelphia's plan to build a Wi-Fi network is billed as a public-private partnership, it has increased tensions with broadband incumbents, such as Verizon and Comcast, which are concerned about losing customers.
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