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March 13, 2006
Will Philadelphia Wireless Collapse of its own Weight?
The Philadelphia City Council has delayed a vote on what turns out to be four contracts involved in the EarthLink deal to build a 135-square mile wireless network in the City of Brotherly Love, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Sunday.
The delay is a major setback for the Philadelphia project, which has been closely watched by municipal wireless advocates as a model for other cities to follow.
From the Inquirer:
[Mayor John Street’s] administration had hoped Council members would approve the effort in a committee vote yesterday, which would have cleared the way for a final vote as early as March 23. But the meeting adjourned without a vote after legislators said they needed more time to read the convoluted series of agreements involving the city, the quasi-independent Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development, the city-created nonprofit known as Wireless Philadelphia, and the Atlanta-based Internet firm EarthLink, which is to build and operate the network.
The contracts reportedly number in the hundreds of pages and the council says it needs time to review them all. The earliest a vote will come is April 13. Wireless Philadelphia originally had hoped to get the deal approved last December. Although delays on other municipal broadband initiatives have been blamed on interference from incumbents phone companies, no such political countermeasures are apparent here. It seems the wireless project, which until now has enjoyed good momentum, has run smack into the machinery of the city bureaucracy.
The situation points toward the inherent problem of getting things done efficiently in government. It just doesn’t happen. The contract now faces scrutiny of 17 council members each with his or her own constituent agenda. EarthLink has the right to terminate the deal if it is not approved by the council’s summer adjournment. While no taxpayer money is at direct risk, the project is beginning to take up a lot of city resources while it essentially remains stuck in one place.
Until now, the implication has been that there was a single overarching contract between the city and EarthLink, which will fund, build and operate the network. Sunday’s report revealed that there are, in fact, four separate pacts that need to be approved.
• A deal between the city and Wireless Philadelphia to have the nonprofit manage the initiative and administer social programs aimed at helping low-income people access the Internet.
• A deal between Wireless Philadelphia and EarthLink under which EarthLink would build, operate, and own the wireless network and promise the nonprofit a share of its proceeds.
• A deal between the city and the industrial development authority that lets the authority rent access to city-owned lightposts to EarthLink for use in mounting the network's 4,000 wireless transceivers.
• A deal between the authority and EarthLink under which EarthLink would rent lightpost access for roughly $74 per lightpost per year.
Yet another contract, between Wireless Philadelphia and Peco Energy to provide electric power to the transceivers, is still being negotiated.
Posted by steve.titch at March 13, 2006 09:30 AM
I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten46684 at January 26, 2007 10:38 PM
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My life's been basically bland today. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. My mind is like an empty room. I've more or less been doing nothing to speak of. Not much on my mind recently.
Comment by: Sten49555 at January 27, 2007 09:08 PM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten83520 at January 28, 2007 06:34 PM
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I haven't been up to much today. I've just been letting everything happen without me. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I just don't have anything to say right now. More or less nothing happening.
Comment by: Sten83079 at January 29, 2007 02:21 AM
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I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten17790 at January 29, 2007 03:33 PM
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Comment by: Sten26582 at January 29, 2007 04:08 PM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten29240 at January 30, 2007 07:43 AM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten10785 at January 30, 2007 05:42 PM
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Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't been up to much these days. I just don't have much to say right now. I can't be bothered with anything , but whatever.
Comment by: Sten84046 at January 30, 2007 10:02 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten47166 at January 31, 2007 07:41 PM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten34912 at February 1, 2007 05:31 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten51244 at February 1, 2007 10:32 PM
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Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten94871 at February 3, 2007 01:15 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I don't care. I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. Basically not much happening right now. Maybe tomorrow. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten42142 at February 3, 2007 09:35 PM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten59058 at February 4, 2007 02:14 AM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten39850 at February 4, 2007 03:21 AM
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