EarthLink pays $5 million to delay Houston Wi-Fi buildout
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EarthLink will pay the city of Houston $5 million as a penalty for not meeting a deadline to sign a contract with the power utility that will provide the poles to install its Wi-Fi gear.
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EarthLink Inc  said on Tuesday it will cut about 900 jobs, or nearly half its staff, as part of a restructuring to reduce costs at the Internet service provider.
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(InfoWorld) - San Francisco is going to kick the tires of an alternative to theÂ citywide Wi-Fi planÂ from EarthLink and Google. The budget analyst of the City and County of San Francisco agreed on Monday to study to financial feasibility of a wireless network paid for and owned by the city. The agency expects to finish its report by December, a representative said at a meeting Monday of the Board of Supervisors' Government Audit and Oversight Committee. The city's Wi-Fi plan and the process of developing it has come under fire from several quarters, not least from some members of the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Jake McGoldrick formally requested the feasibility study after criticizing the way in which the administration of Mayor Gavin Newsom settled on theÂ EarthLink-Google plan. It calls for a network to be built at no cost to the city and owned by the two service providers. "It really got rammed and jammed and fast-tracked," McGoldrick said in April. If the city owned the network, he believes it would have more control overÂ issues such as user privacyÂ and prompt upgrading of the technology. The analyst's plan to deliver the report by December satisfied McGoldrick, who talked with representatives of the agency at Monday's meeting. The city also expects to wrap up its negotiations with EarthLink and Google in early December, said Brian Roberts, a senior policy analyst for the city's Department of Telecommunications and Information Services. The department has no position on the plan for the feasibility study, he said: The budget analyst's report will give the supervisors more information to decide whether to go with the EarthLink-Google deal, he said. Also Monday, a nonprofit organization said a city-owned network would pay for itself in just over four years. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) released the results of a feasibility study report that was sought by Media Alliance, an Oakland, California, group that has pushed for broader access to technology. ILSR envisioned San Francisco building the network for an initial capital investment of about $10 million, to be repaid over five years from services revenue. The city would create a nonprofit body to sell access to the network to service providers wholesale. Upgrades would cost about $9 million over ten years, the group said. The plan is similar to onesÂ advocated in some other cities, such as that of the Boston Wireless Task Force. ILSR said its estimates, which in part assume that 10 percent of households and businesses would become paid subscribers at about $15 per month, were conservative. A better plan would be for the city to expand its current 43-mile fiber network to eventually reach all homes, while deploying wireless in certain areas in the meantime, ILSR said. Fiber costs more to deploy but less to maintain. The city didn't provide enough information for a complete analysis of this plan, ILSR said.ADVERTISEMENTMAKE SOA REAL WITH IBM WEBSPHERE PODCASTStreamline processes and maximize efficiency within a proven service oriented architecture. Take back control of your business processes with IBM WebSphere.
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EarthLink Inc said on Tuesday it will  cut about 900 jobs, or nearly half its staff, as part of a  restructuring to reduce costs at the Internet service provider.
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EarthLink confirmed Friday that its partner in Helio, SK Telecom, had agreed to invest up to $270 million in the wireless venture.
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By The Dallas Morning News  Feb. 24--By 2009, Houston expects to boast a wireless broadband network allowing anyone to connect a laptop computer to the Internet from virtually anywhere in the city.   It's no small undertaking.
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(InfoWorld) - Backers of a massive wireless network for California's Silicon Valley have yet to build promised test networks or complete a model agreement for local governments, but at least one executive expects those to be finished by year's end. The project has slid past its original scheduleÂ and still faces negotiations with about 40 municipalities spread across a 1,500-square-mile region, even as municipal wireless runs into tough times in neighboring San Francisco and elsewhere around the U.S. But despite gloomy media reports, organizers are promising results soon. A model agreement should be completed in the fourth quarter, said Anne-Marie Fowler, a principal at SeaKay Inc., part of the Silicon Valley Metro Connect vendor consortium that will build the project. That deal will be the template for customized contracts with each city. Proof-of-concept networks in Palo Alto and San Carlos should be completed around the same time, she said. The 1-square-mile test networks will first be open to city governments thinking about participating in the plan and then be available to the public for 60 to 90 days, she said. It's a brave forecast for a project that at one time was expected to start rolling out in January or February of this year and is still on paper. Participants blame ever-changing technology and the complexity of hammering out a deal covering multiple technologies and as many as seven different services. But in a shaky market for municipal wireless, any delay can cause jitters. A report in the San Jose Mercury News earlier this week said the initiative was in danger of collapse. It quoted Russ Hancock, chief executive of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, the nonprofit group organizing the initiative, saying the group was ready to scrap the project. Not so, according to Seth Fearey, vice president and chief operating officer at Joint Venture, though he added that the group is always looking at how it can move the project forward and thinking about alternatives. Hancock was misquoted, he said. The group is still in talks with Metro Connect over the basic agreement they will bring to individual cities, and there are only a few things left to be resolved, he said. "It's up to the Metro Connect team to make this thing happen," Fearey said. "We're pushing them as hard as we can." Once the model agreement is drawn up, Metro Connect will take it to local governments and customize it for their needs. Cities would grant rights to facilities such as light poles for mounting radios, after which Metro Connect will be able to offer residents a subscription service. ButÂ the network is envisioned as more than just Wi-Fi.Â Metro Connect is considering pre-WiMax wide-area wireless, special networks for public safety and transit, and environmental sensor networks. Cisco Systems Inc. and IBM Corp., along with network builder and operator Azulstar Inc., make up the rest of Metro Connect. The Silicon Valley plan is different from failed deals such as San Francisco's, executives said. Metro Connect won't just build a network and count on advertisers or residential subscribers to support it, Fowler said. "We don't ask one revenue source to carry the whole day," she said. Many cities have expressed interest in paying to use the network for communications in the field and specialized functions such as meter reading, she said. The consortium is approaching schools and corporations about buying services, too. There will be a free ad-based service, but if ads don't support it, the service can still survive, she said. Some critics have said the plan, estimated to cost $100 million or more, is too ambitious. Craig Settles, an independent municipal network consultant who has worked with some cities in the area, has said the organizers should have started out with fewer technologies for a few targeted applications to build interest, then expanded later. But Metro Connect's Fowler says the complexity and scale, though they have caused delays, will generate enthusiasm. "We realized we had something bigger than what we thought," she said. "I would, of course, like to have started earlier, but ... I would not have wanted to start with a smaller vision." Â
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Backers of a Philadelphia Wi-Fi project are worried that a bill going through the state legislature would spike a plan to blanket the city with free or inexpensive wireless access. [Broadband Blog]
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CHICAGO - Plans to blanket cities across the nation with low-cost or free wireless Internet access are being delayed or abandoned because they are proving to be too costly and complicated.
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Company pledges free Wi-Fi if people share their broadband connections, but service model violates U.S. ISP user agreements.
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Hoping to extend wireless internet access to people without broadband, a Texas company is introducing a base station that works with any dialup connection. But don't expect it to make pages load any faster. By Elisa Batista.
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EarthLink Inc.&#39;s current contract to build a municipal Wi-Fi network in San Francisco appears to be dead following a restructuring of the struggling Internet service provider.
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(InfoWorld) - The ACLU has turned up the political heat on EarthLink and Google's plan for Wi-Fi in San Francisco, telling the city's Board of Supervisors that the proposed contract doesn't have enough privacy or free speech protections. The ACLU of Northern California said in a letter to the supervisors on Tuesday that both EarthLink's paid service and Google's free offering would fall short of most of the group's recommendations on collection and sharing of personal data and possible tracking of users. Among other things, there are no limits on what kind of information EarthLink can or will collect, and terms for the Google service call for requiring "minimal" information on login without defining "minimal," the letter said. In addition to privacy concerns, the group is worried that knowing information is being collected will cause users to limit what they say and do on the Internet. The city and EarthLink agreed on a contract last month, and EarthLink is confident the closely watched project will get off the ground with deployment of a proof-of-concept network starting in April, said company spokesman Jerry Grasso. But the proposal has been under fire since before the contract was completed, and some members of the board have said a municipally owned system would be better for the city. EarthLink negotiated the deal with the city and would build and operate the network, bringing Google in as a tenant providing the free, slower service. Some critics have warned that San Francisco could be giving a virtual monopoly on citywide Wi-Fi to private companies without ensuring user privacy or complete coverage. The ACLU said a municipal Wi-Fi network should let users opt in or out of any service that collects data on what they look at or search for on the Internet, or their e-mail messages. There are no provisions for that in the paid or free service terms, it said. EarthLink can only save location information for 60 days, but there's no limit to how long it can store personal protected information and no limit to how long Google can store any information, the ACLU said. Users of the EarthLink service can opt out of receiving marketing materials, but EarthLink has free reign to share personal information with partner companies that help it deliver or promote the service. Both service providers can hand over users' personal information for law enforcement or national security reasons without a warrant or notification of the user, though they would require "court-ordered documentation" before doing so. If information is sought for a civil suit, EarthLink or Google would have to tell the user first. EarthLink's Grasso declined to comment on the ACLU's letter, saying EarthLink has not seen it. Google and city representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
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Proposed municipal Wi-Fi network would be run by EarthLink, include Google service.
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Shares of EarthLink Inc. climbed more than 6 percent Tuesday after the Internet service provider said it would cut 900 jobs &#151; or about half its work force &#151; and close four offices in an effort to reduce operating costs.
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EarthLink's contract to build a municipal Wi-Fi network in San Francisco appears to be a victim of the company's financial struggle.
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(InfoWorld) - Struggling EarthLink Inc. has stepped back from further fundingÂ Helio, its U.S. mobile joint venture with SK Telecom Co. Ltd., amid hints that the South Korean cellular carrier may become the majority shareholder. Helio, founded in 2005 and launched last year, continues to bleed cash even as it gains subscribers. It is expected to lose between US$340 million and $360 million this year, according to EarthLink. But SK Telecom has now invested an additional $270 million in the venture, EarthLink confirmed Friday. At the same time, EarthLink said it won't invest any more in Helio for the time being. The Internet service provider is grappling with declining dial-up subscriptions and has already put most of its municipal wireless business on hold. EarthLink Friday said it is in discussions with SK Telecom to amend their Helio agreement "to reflect the additional investment by SK Telecom and their future governance of Helio," suggesting SK Telecom might take on a larger share of the venture, currently split 50-50. In its own news release, SK Telecom said Helio may be able to raise funds from the market without drawing further investment from either parent. That could mean venture capital, an initial public offering or other sources, said Helio spokesman Rick Heineman. Helio is one of the biggest U.S. examples of an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator), a service provider that piggybacks on an existing carrier's network and tries to stand out with specialized features. Several of these ventures, including Amp'd Mobile Inc. and The Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN Mobile, have shut down or been relaunched under new business models. Analysts and industry veterans say it's hard to buy minutes and data from another carrier and then build a compelling enough service that you can charge a profitable premium. Helio is using multimedia content and slick devices to appeal to young consumers. It had 130,000 subscribers at the end of August after passing the 100,000 mark in the second quarter, Heineman said. The company aims to reach between 200,000 and 250,000 customers and revenue of $140 million to $170 million by the end of this year. SK Telecom said it is now preparing to expand the subscriber base through handset and services development and a larger distribution network. Helio launched backed by initial funding of $200 million from each partner, plus assets such as SK Telecom's billing system, Heineman said. EarthLink last invested in Helio in July, when both partners pledged up to $100 million and made immediate payments of $30 million. SK Telecom's new investment completes the July pledge and adds another $200 million, Heineman said.