Philadelphia's planned citywide wireless network seems about to become a reality.
The city finalized a 10-year contract with Atlanta-based Internet service provider EarthLink Inc. last week and will start installation pending City Council approval.
Anyone in the covered area will be able to connect to the network with a standard wireless card in compatible computers, phones and personal digital assistants.
The goal of the project is "to ensure that everyone that has an interest in information and computer technology has access to affordable high-speed broadband," said Dianah Neff, Philadelphia's chief information officer, who has worked on the contract.
Neff estimates that the contract will go to City Council for a vote within two weeks.
Councilman Frank Rizzo said that he expects the contract will be approved.
If the council passes the wireless contract, EarthLink will begin installing wireless transmitters on light posts in a 15-square-mile test region in order for the company to "prove that it can do everything it says it can in the contract," Neff said.
The location of the test region has not been determined, although North Philadelphia is one possibility, she added.
Assuming the three-month trial is a success, EarthLink will then begin full installation of the network throughout the city's 135 square-mile boundaries, which include Penn. The process should take nine to 12 months.
Michael Palladino, Penn's associate vice president for networking and telecommunications, said that a citywide wireless plan shouldn't interfere with Penn's plan to install wireless access in all the college houses.
"It's pretty hard to have an amazingly robust outdoor [wireless] system -- the way this is going to be -- that will still penetrate through all of the concrete and steel of one of the high rises," Palladino said.
With its wireless network up and running, EarthLink will allow multiple local, regional and national Internet service providers to operate on its network, according to Neff.
A monthly subscription fee, which Neff estimated at $20 -- half that for very low-income households -- will be required to use the indoor and outdoor service.
