Finally, EarthLink Inc. did it. Last Thursday, the company launched its first municipal Wi-Fi network in Anaheim, Calif., offering the city’s 328,000 residents, as well as local businesses and visitors “affordable and portable broadband.”
EarthLink said access to the network costs about $22 per month and pointed out that some qualified customers will be able to receive a free Wi-Fi modem for at-home use. For occasional-use customers, the company offers wireless broadband service for about $4 per hour, or $16 for a three-day pass.
“The days when Anaheim residents, workers and visitors are tied to a desk to access an affordable broadband network are coming to an end. The launch of this network enables people to make a choice about how, and from where, they want to access the Internet securely,” said EarthLink President and Chief Executive Officer Garry Betty.
The Anaheim network will also serve as a platform for city employees, business and wholesale partner end users to access EarthLink’s municipal network. Operating under an “open access” business model, the network allows multiple, competing providers to offer their services to consumers and businesses.
Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle boasted, “Today, with the launch of this network, Anaheim becomes the largest city in the United States to deploy such a technological advancement. Our partnership with EarthLink will benefit residents, businesses and visitors, allowing them to conduct business, answer e-mails, do school research or interact with our virtual City Hall anywhere and any time in Anaheim.”
Though the network isn’t completely built out yet, EarthLink said construction should be completed some time during the fourth quarter. For now, wanna-be subscribers can check EarthLink’s Web site to see if their location is covered.
The buildout uses Tropos Networks MetroMesh Wi-Fi routers, which are mounted on light poles throughout the city, forming a mesh network, which is optimized by Tropos’ Control and Insight network management tools. Motorola Inc.’s MOTOwi4 products are also part of the networks architecture, including its Canopy high-speed backhaul and Wi-Fi mesh network equipment.
EarthLink also announced its first national wholesale partners that will offer service to their customers on EarthLink’s municipal Wi-Fi network. These partners are DirecTV and PeoplePC, a wholly owned EarthLink subsidiary.
Furthermore, the busy company said it reached a non-binding agreement with AOL L.L.C. and is discussing ways to offer its AOL.com content and Web assets on EarthLink’s municipal network.
Industry watchers will be taking note of EarthLink’s Anaheim Wi-Fi adventure, examining every technical bump in the road with intense scrutiny.
However, the plan hatched by Spanish Internet provider FON could cause major squinting in Wi-Fi circles, as the Google Inc. and eBay Inc.-funded company formed to promote free Wi-Fi access said it will begin selling up to 1 million Linksys Inc. Wi-Fi routers for $5 with the hope that doing so will inspire consumers to share their Internet connections with others.
Usually, a Wi-Fi router costs about $60, but FON says that as long as consumers agree to share their connections, the company will let them connect for free. In February, FON raised more than $21 million from Google and eBay’s Skype Technologies, among others, and said it aims to construct a global Wi-Fi network.
Municipal Wi-Fi analyst Craig Settles put the FON offer in perspective.
“In the realm of municipal wireless, I don’t think FON will play a useful role. For one thing, supporting an application made possible by sharing high-speed access accounts will strain an already-fragile peace local governments are building with incumbents.
“Where FON should have an impact, though, is getting cities to re-think the financial wisdom of having a network be sustainable solely on subscriptions to general consumers, or ad-driven business models,” Settles said. “FON represents the constant drive by entrepreneurs trying to market `weasel-ware,’ some type of gadget or software to eliminate the need to pay for Internet usage. With that kind of market pressure, any vendor trying to sustain a multimillion-dollar municipal network is going to be sorry, out of luck unless revenues are coming from city/county government’s paid use of the network, and a heavy commitment of business subscribers.”
“Looking at FON in a general sense, there may be uptake among a lot of consumers, but I don’t think you’ll see many businesses using it because of security concerns and the fact that using FON depends on finding someone nearby to share access with,” Settles added.
“However, even at the consumer level, I see some potential shortcomings. The uncertainty of knowing who’s going to be nearby for you to connect to makes me wonder who besides college students or immediate neighbors will use it. If I don’t know my neighbors, do I really want to share or offer my access for sale? If I want to have anything resembling mobile Net access anywhere other than maybe a college campus where I’m a student, how trusting am I going to be of sharing with strangers? At least at a Starbucks, there’s the sense of security in using a business’ connection.”
