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Feb. 20, 2007

The City of St. Petersburg, Florida voted 7 to 1 over a local company and selected EarthLink to build and maintain a municipal Wi-Fi network that would cover 60 square miles of the city.

EarthLink will pay to build the network.

Citing EarthLink’s greater experience and financial stability, the St. Petersburg City Council chose the Atlanta-based company to create the citywide Wi-Fi network.

Though the final paperwork still waits to be signed, a preliminary agreement says that city residents could pay about $22 a month for access to the Internet anywhere in the network and would also have access in other cities, such as New Orleans or Philadelphia, with EarthLink Wi-Fi networks.

EarthLink says the network will take about 6 months to build and will cost around $6.8 million.

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker said he hopes the network will be commercially available within one year.

In related municipal Wi-Fi news, L.A.’s Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has expressed his intent to get the ball rolling on a network for the city of Angels by 2009.

Overall, Villaraigosa said he expected to create a public-private sector partnership and would seek bids as early as this fall.

The city's existing commercial broadband providers AT&T, Time Warner Cable and Verizon Communications reportedly aren't planning to oppose the city's efforts.

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Source: Wireless Week