Looks like Earthlink WIFI project in Houston is dead now. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6205457.html
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5645574.html Houston mayor plans 10 'bubbles' of free WiFi Mayor targets low-income areas and eyes citywide coverage in future By BRAD HEM Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Houston is aiming to turn EarthLink's lemons into the city's lemonade. The company had to pay the city $5 million after defaulting on a contract to build a citywide wireless Internet network last year. On Monday, Mayor Bill White announced the city will use about $3.5 million of that money to build 10 free wireless network "bubbles" in low-income parts of Houston to give residents access they otherwise might do without. The long-term possibility, White said, is that the bubbles could be connected and the areas between them added to the network, providing WiFi access across the city. "It's a matter of connecting those bubbles," White said. Monday's announcement launched the first bubble in the densely populated Gulfton area of southwest Houston. The city is establishing a committee to determine where future networks will be located. Build-out is expected to happen over the next two years. Upload and download speeds on the network are about 3 megabits per second, said Nicole Robinson, director of the city's Digital Inclusion Project. Comparable DSL service can cost $29 a month. Several cities, including Philadelphia, San Francisco and Chicago, have struggled in the past few months to create municipal WiFi networks after EarthLink abandoned that part of its corporate strategy and paid millions in default fees, said Craig Settles, an independent municipal wireless consultant and author of two books on city WiFi. Various financial and operational models are emerging. Settles said the new Houston model could be successful because it limits some cost by locating network transmitters on government-owned property. And by focusing on low-income areas, the plan is more politically acceptable and possibly open to future funding — either from government sources or private companies interested in boosting philanthropy, he said. "I think where the city is going makes a lot of sense," he said. To expand the network beyond the first 10 bubbles will require partnerships with other private businesses, said Settles. He suggested deals with area hospitals, which tend to be spread throughout the city and might have interest in establishing a network to communicate with ambulances, clinics, doctors and patients citywide. Last week, the city finished the formal process of requesting information from potential service providers about how it might build out the network, said Richard Lewis, director of the city's information technology department. The city likely will ask for bids to build the remaining nine networks, maintain them, provide technical support for users and create a system for businesses to advertise on the network, potentially building revenue for operational costs, he said. Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Verizon Wireless and Tropos Networks — which donated equipment for the Gulfton network — are pilot sponsors. HP will help develop an "affordable computer purchase plan," according to a news release. In addition to installing Internet service, the city is working with social service groups to provide computer access and training for users. Each bubble will include about 15 public access points at schools, city facilities and community organizations within the area. The pilot network in the Gulfton area includes access points at Family Road Literacy Center, Sylvan Rodriguez Elementary School and Burnett Bayland Community Center. Most city libraries already provide free wireless hot spots, and the new library branch location at Discovery Green downtown will provide wireless service throughout the new park when it opens in April. With most new jobs requiring at least a familiarity with computers, White said it is critical the city helps people learn basic computer skills. "Allowing somebody to have access to computers and to feel confident with them ... you will open a whole horizon for that individual from which they can pull themselves up," he said. brad.hem@chron.com
They tried to do this back in my hometown (Lompoc, CA) back in like 2005. It was supposed to be the first completely WiFi city. After a couple million the project was pushed back like 2 years in a row and I still don't think its up and running completely. Keep in mind this is a small city with only about 45,000 people.
Sweet, free wifi at y'alls apartment. Maybe time to use that money to invest in a dinner table now? ;]