I would say that a little bird told me; but, in fact, this has been developing for quite some time. New ownership of the Philadelphia wireless network will be announced today. From the community side of things, we're cautiously optimistic that the solution that's been reach will directly address local concerns and ensure the continuing viability of the project.

[UPDATE01] Looks like the rest of the media is finally catching on to the Philly resuscitation. Meanwhile, here's my recommendation for finding out more:

The Future of Philadelphia's Wireless Internet Initiative:
A Public Forum

When: Wednesday, June 18, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Tuttleman Learning Center, Room 105,
Corner of 13th St. and Montgomery Ave. Temple University

Panelists Include:

• Mark Rupp, Principle, Boathouse Communications
• Beth McConnell, Executive Director, Media and Democracy Coalition
• Karl Garcia, Technical Staff, Google's Wireless network, Mountainview, Calif.
• Greg Goldman, CEO of Wireless Philadelphia
• Phuong Ninh, Philadelphia Student Union's Youth Leadership Team
• Bill Green, City Councilman-At Large
• Invited, representative from the Nutter administration

[UPDATE02] From the Media Mobilizing Project in Philly:

Media Mobilizing Project Statement on Change of Ownership of Philly WiFi System

MMP believes that change in ownership is an important step in realizing a vision of a new Philadelphia where everyone has access to the Internet. We are excited to work with the new ownership group. Currently many residents wait two to three hours at local libraries to get on the Internet for 30 minutes. But they wait because they severely need the service. They need the Internet to apply for jobs, apply to college, get vital information about health and their communities. They need the Internet to have the full set of rights which come along with the information based society in which we live.

Consequently, MMP believes that new ownership is a vital step but not a silver bullet in solving the problem that at least 25% of the population lives in poverty, 30% do not own a computer and less then 50% of residents have access to the Web. Therefore, we call on the Mayor and city hall to keep digital inclusion at the top of their agenda. At the same time, we believe it is vital that community groups and the many neighborhoods and people who comprise the fabric of the city, must work and envision how to make the Philly WiFi network not only a technological reality but a social, political and economic resource which compels a more just city. For this reason MMP and Temple University are co-hosting a forum on the future of Philly WiFi Wednesday night at 6:30 in room 105 of Tuttleman Learning Center. The forum will include members of the new owenrship group, Councilman Bill Green and others.

Media Mobilizing Project is a local organization devoted to the use of the Internet and other media as an organizing tool in low-income communities around the city. Media Mobilizing Project works with groups to utilize the media and communications in organizing campaigns while training community members in basic video, audio, web and computer skills. MMP has worked with Wireless Philadelphia getting folks within our network online, while also helping people acquire the tools and skills to access the Web.
In recent months we have been working to inspire community engagement to help keep the Philly WiFi network alive.

Media Mobilizing Project
4134 Lancaster Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19104
215.990.3702
mediamobilizing@gmail.com
www.mediamobilizing.org

Last year, New America Foundation released an in-depth report and analysis of the Wireless Philadelphia Project, "The Philadelphia Story: Learning from a Municipal Wireless Pioneer." We concluded that the private franchise model was suboptimal and that Philadelphia's solution was problematic in a number of ways. At the time, we received good press coverage and a helluvalot of blowback from certain constituencies (who continued to assert that everything was on track).

Now that we've made it to May, 2008, Wireless Philadelphia is on its last legs. While many of us are still working to salvage something from this mess, reading through the New America Foundation report, it's amazingly how eerily prescient it is. Ironically, the solution we proposed was exactly what has been on the table for the past couple months -- but, as with far too many innovative ideas, this one got mired in the muck of Philly politics and, perhaps, personal egos.

Sadly, the mainstream press continue to demonstrate a remarkable ignorance by tagging this failure as a failure of "municipal wireless" -- the reality is, the Philadelphia model is a corporate franchise granted to Earthlink -- much of the problem stems from the fact that the municipality has no control or ownership over the network and Earthlink has demonstrated no accountability to the local community. Conde Nast's Portfolio gets it completely wrong -- heading their story, "Another Municipal Wi-Fi Plan Dies" -- which is a particular shame since I've spoken with the article's author, Sam Gustin, previously and he knows better.

Computer World labels the Earthlink failure as, "another blow to the municipal Wi-Fi market", when a better understanding of the situation would dictate that it's a failure of the corporate franchise business model. SiliconValley.com rightfully points out that where Earthlink's wireless networks have been taken over by municipalities, they've continued to operate, while those that haven't (e.g., Philly and New Orleans) they're being shut down. Isn't the story, then, that where corporate franchises are converted into municipal networks, the networks continue to thrive?

The story's also being covered by PC World, Digital Trends, and a host of other news organizations.

My recommendation? Read The Philadelphia Story: Learning from a Municipal Wireless Pioneer, check out my recent article for GovTech's Digital Communities, Municipal Wireless Success Demands Public Involvement, and remain critical of the notion that the death of municipal wireless is nigh.

The Philadelphia saga is about to get a whole lot more interesting. Though I've been privy to a lot of the behind-the-scene negotiations, if you're looking for details, you'll have to look elsewhere. However, you won't have to wait long -- the Philadelphia Metro has already started covering things -- which means that someone's already spilling the beans. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News are going to be running stories tomorrow.

All in all, the proposed solution is a really good one for the residents of Philly; but yes, it's caught up on the demand for a $250,000 payment. Meanwhile, Wireless Philadelphia released this statement today...

Dear Friend of Wireless Philadelphia:

I am writing to provide you a brief update on the Wireless
Philadelphia Initiative.

Philadelphia's Wi-Fi network continues to operate in the roughly 80% of the City in which it has been deployed (see map ). Nothing in the ten-year Network Agreement

permits EarthLink to unilaterally impose deadlines for the network's transfer, turn off the network or remove network equipment.

It has been well publicized that EarthLink recently announced its intention to sell its Wi-Fi networks and exit the municipal wireless business. Wireless Philadelphia and the City of Philadelphia continue to work together to explore options for the network's future. In the meantime, we are committed to our core mission of serving Digital Inclusion customers with internet access, hardware, technical support and training.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Best regards,

Greg Goldman
CEO
Wireless Philadelphia
ggoldman@wirelessphiladelphia.org

In December 2007, the New America Foundation released an in-depth report and analysis of the Philadelphia Wireless project. This New America Foundation report focused on productive interventions and potential opportunities for community organizers and decision-makers, but was met with hostility by Wireless Philadelphia and Civitium.

Now, three months after the report's release, many of the concerns first systematically documented in the report (but raised often by the local Philadelphia community over a several year period) are beginning to grow so much worse that even the best efforts being brought to bare to obfuscate the problems are coming undone.

Joshua Breitbart put it this way in his recent blog posting:

It is now common knowledge that EarthLink has failed to live up to its agreement to build a citywide wireless network for the people of Philadelphia. Fortunately, the Network Agreement gives Wireless Philadelphia various mechanisms to hold the Atlanta-based corporation accountable. For example, WP can declare a “Dark Day” for the system if there is significant outage and compel EarthLink to remedy the situation. Yet WP has not exercised any of these provisions, even though these are clearly dark days for Wireless Philadelphia.

In December, Philadelphia Chief Information Officer Terry Phillis and Wireless Philadelphia Chief Executive Officer went before City Council and assured the members that EarthLink was still hard at work building out the wireless network throughout the city. They promised EarthLink would resolve all of its subscribers’ problems. It is now clear the information they provided was false.

The problem in Philadelphia is that they're in desperate need of leadership in an area where people have been so focused on the potential political minefield that they've been unwilling to make the substantial changes necessary to fix things. As more information begins to come out about the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of tax payer dollars that were spent to subsidize Earthlink's network, the question that begs asking is, "What return on investment did the local community get for their funding?"

Municipal networks in places like St. Cloud, FL and Chaska, MN work because the local community has substantial control over the network. In Philadelphia, this control was ceded to private interests and we're looking at the repercussions of this decision. Hopefully, folks will get things turned around in Philly, but that may only happen with strong new leadership.

I'm spending the weekend up in Philadelphia as a part of the SSRC Necessary Knowledge Workshop, which brings together dozens of academics and policy wonks from across the country (and around the globe). The workshop is a chance to hear about various research projects that have been conducted over the past few years. For me, it's a chance to identify academics who are investigating issues that are being discussed and decided upon by decision-makers and regulators inside the beltway. Hopefully, I'll be leaving with a rolodex full of new contacts and a briefcase full of papers.

Proceedings are just about to start...

Computer World is reporting that Philadelphia's CIO, Terry Phillis "believes there is a 75% chance that EarthLink Inc. will sell or abandon its ambitious citywide Wi-Fi network operation in a year." National Public Radio is claiming, "Philadelphia's wireless Internet network was supposed to be a model for the nation, but the project has been plagued by delays and spotty service." Predating this recent surge of media critique, New America Foundation released an in-depth analysis of the pros and cons of the Philadelphia Wireless Initiative. While some folks were scornful of the report, more and more folks are realizing that something's fishy in Philly (and it ain't the oysters).

Three friends of mine have joined the blogosphere and have recently started writing up their thoughts and experiences on issues of digital inclusion, wireless, ICTs, wireless, political-economics, etc. This is great news for those of us looking for non-hyped information on what's really going on in the trenches and all three are worth taking a look at and bookmarking.

Angela Stuber's blog, Diary of a Community Technology Advocate, discusses her work with Community Technology Centers (she's currently President of CTCnet) and the Ohio Community Computing Network, in particular. Focusing on the intersections among CTCs, telecommunications policy, and digital inclusion, a must-read if you're interested in on-the-ground impacts of our current regulatory regime.

Josh Breitbart's blog is focuses on in-depth critical analysis of the Philadelphia wireless initiative and its impact on local communities and media activists. Josh is the Communications Director for Media Tank and a long-time organizer of numerous influential grassroots media projects.

Ross Musselman is Outreach Coordinator for CUWiN and involved in organizing local and regional wireless initiatives and coordinating with partners across the United States and around the globe. He's in regular contact with projects worldwide and discusses the reverberating impacts of local, national, and international political-economic systems.

These are all blogs I will continue reading regularly and permanent links are over in the right-hand column. They're definitely worth checking out.