Out of Control

The city of Philadelphia has awarded EarthLink a high-profile contract to build a Wi-Fi network stretching over 135 square miles, marking the formal start of the largest municipal effort in the United States to offer wireless Net access.

Dianah Neff, Philadelphia's chief information officer, said Tuesday that the Atlanta-based Internet provider has won the contract to place Wi-Fi access points on telephone poles throughout the city, beating out a competing proposal from Hewlett-Packard. Most city residents will pay $20 a month for access.

"EarthLink will fund, build and manage the wireless network, and will provide Wireless Philadelphia with revenue-sharing fees to support our nonprofit goals of getting computers into households with training and working with our neighborhoods to do economic development," Neff told CNET News.com.

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