Philadelphia freedom: Officials announce citywide Wi-Fi

Philadelphia officials on Thursday announced the details of a plan to blanket the city's 135-square-mile area with unlicensed wireless Internet access, effectively creating the nation's largest Wi-Fi hot spot.

First announced last year, the "Wireless Philadelphia" network is expected to be operational by September 2006. Mayor John F. Street said the city is prepared to spend up to $15 million during the first five years of the project, and is currently accepting bids to design and build the network.

Consumers can expect to pay up to $20 a month for access, while commercial Wi-Fi services will cost about $40 a month. Plans also call for the city to sell wholesale access to Internet service providers through a nonprofit organization; the ISPs would then market services back to consumers at capped rates expected to run between $16 and $20 per month.

While Philadelphia is not the first U.S. city to create a municipal wireless network, its plan is by far the most ambitious in its size and scope. The city plans to connect 80% of Philadelphia residents to the Internet within the next five years, up from the current level of 58%. Officials estimate the network will also create 3000 new jobs.

But Philadelphia's Wi-Fi proposal has not been without its opponents: Verizon Communications successfully lobbied Pennsylvania's Legislature for a bill expected to essentially bar the state's other municipalities from competing with private-sector Internet service providers.

Philadelphia councilman Frank Rizzo argued that the city government has neither the expertise nor the capital necessary to embark on a project of this magnitude, especially in light of recent job cuts and the elimination of services at public libraries.

"I would love to see Philadelphia wireless, but it's not the government's job to do it," Rizzo told Reuters.