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Feb. 15, 2007

The city of Houston has selected Earthlink to design and build a city-wide wireless broadband network using Earthlink's mesh technology.

Overall, four other companies had bid on the contract.

Earthlink is expected to provide a 600-square-mile service area to blanket the entire Houston metro area.

The company is slated to invest $50 million in setting up the infrastructure, and the 10,000 transmitters that will be necessary on light and utility poles all around the city.

Houston officials believe the Wi-Fi network will serve its businesses, visitors and residents, especially low-income areas where the service might be available for just $10 a month.

Houston mayor White said "this is a very important initiative for Houston as it will bring the consumer cost of broadband down significantly and already has."

He added "it will provide a scarce resource to help our low-income households get Wi-Fi access, benefiting students at home, helping telecommuters for whom child care or transportation creates limitations, and benefiting telemedicine in the future. Houston's workforce will be more productive."

No taxpayer dollars are expected to be used for the project, White said. The city plans to begin taking 3 percent of the network's revenue a few years into the agreement.

EarthLink also has initiatives under way in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Alexandria, Va., and Milpitas and Anaheim, Calif.

Earthlink also has started a joint project with Google to supply Wi-Fi access to the city of San Francisco, but that project could be delayed futher.

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Source: Wireless Week