Flickr Photo: hykuCongratulations to the Philadelphia Wireless team! An agreement was announced Tuesday that saves the wireless network Earthlink was set to dismantle. Event better, the city was able to deliver on the original promise of the network: a free service available to any user.

I'm excited that Philadelphia is back in the game and look forward to seeing the innovative work that Greg Goldman and his team at Wireless Philadelphia are doing to bridge the digital divide.

Full press release here.

On June 12, 2008, Earthlink Wireless plans to disconnect their municipal WiFi service in the City of Philadelphia. As of today, no alternative has been found, though the city is still exploring several avenues.

I've written several posts about why we at NTEN think wireless internet access is so important. Nothing I could write will ever be as powerful as a good story, well told, so check out this 13 minute documentary about Wireless Philadelphia: Change is in the Airwaves: A Documentary about the Philadelphia Wireless Initiative from George Rausch on Vimeo.

Flickr Photo: reway2007How long has it been since you heard the term "digital divide"?

We don't talk about it like we used to. Back in 2000, dozens of foundations and many more nonprofits were focused on making sure that everyone had access to a computer and the Internet. Mainstream media coverage came fast and furious.

Somewhere along the way, the digital divide fell out of vogue. Still, in every community across this country, there are children and adults who do not have a computer or cannot access the Internet.

When Earthlink famously pulled out of its deal with San Francisco to install a city-wide wireless network, many individuals declared it the nail in the municipal wireless coffin. It's true that municipal wireless projects are getting knocked around all over the country: the Philadelphia and Minneapolis projects have also come under heavy fire. These criticisms have led lots of folks to question the whole idea of ubiquitous access.

What's more telling than all the hoopla is the fact the communities are persistent, insistent even, about developing wireless solutions. Check out the latest from San Francisco.

It may take a while, but communities will figure this out for themselves. Are you part of the discussion in your community?

Don Berryman, EarthLink's top municipal wireless executive, is out of a job. So are 899 other EarthLink employees amid a massive company reorganization. The shake-up includes office closings in cities that EarthLink had been targeting for public broadband deployments. The upshot for municipal leaders: Our collective focus is moving from big, feel-good public access efforts to government applications that deliver ROI.

This explains why Chicago killed their initiative today.

I certainly understand that rolling out municipal wireless is big undertaking. What's interesting to me is how quickly it has gone from the next great thing to quagmire. This is not a frivolous tech bubble, this is about giving people access to a vital service. In essence, municipal wireless is an infrastructure project. Like roads. Or phone lines. Or fiber. Each time we have taken on those projects, there have been push-backs and set-backs, but we've made each infrastructure project work.

Why? Because infrastructure is the cornerstone of a healthy society.

A short time ago, things went sideways in San Francisco's bid to bring municipal wireless to the city. It's a long story to tell, so I won't. Suffice it to say that I think it's a real shame. Even worse, however, is that there is a distinct voice missing from the muni wifi debate in San Francisco and around the country: YOURS.

As has happened with every technology revolution (Web 2.0 anyone?), we are following the Roller Coaster of acceptance with municipal wireless. When cities and towns first started partnering and building service a few years ago, there was little awareness. But once it caught on, it caught on big. In the last year, we've been experiencing the swell of enthusiasm as a few major cities have begun to bring their networks online. Now we've hit the most interesting part of the ride: the drop.

GigaOM, a tech news and opinion blog, has recently commented on this stage in our relationship with municipal wireless:

Add one more item to the long list of reasons that Municipal Wifi is so important in our communities, and to nonprofits in particular: Muni Wifi is playing a critical role post bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

Looking for ways to bring Muni Wifi to your community? Check out our guide.

Many thanks to Sheldon Mains for the heads up, and CTFC for supporting the guide!

Minneapolis is rolling out its Muni WiFi on a large scale this week. Beyond the "Hooray for Free/Cheap Internet Access" reaction, it's my hope that this particular project will also be a great investment in the community. Minneapolis nonprofits and citizens groups lobbied hard for a digital inclusion strategy that would provide resources and actual funding to address the digital divide in Minneapolis. They also insisted that the contractor, local ISP US Internet, guarantee network neutrality. Mad props to C-CAN and NTEN NTC speaker Catherine Settani for their great advocacy work.

If your community is considering or implementing a municipal wireless program, you need to get involved! If you are part of an organization that directly interacts with the neediest in your community, you have the most to gain from community wireless -- but only if you get involved and fight for favorable terms. Check out NTEN's report on the nonprofit role in municipal wireless programs: No Strings Attached.

Thanks to NTEN member Rick Birmingham for the heads up.

Lots of us use surveys to collect data about our field and our clients. But if you're using paper, you're doing it the hard way! Join us for this webinar to learn how a very small investment in technology can revolutionize your survey collection:

> Survey Says: Data Collection in the Field with Wireless Handhelds

Does PDA = Public Displays of Affection? In this instance, yes! STOP AIDS Project has converted it's paper-based Behavioral Risk Assessment to WiFi Palm devices. Data can be instantly recorded and updated via WiFi, or uploaded later when in range of a WiFi connection. Entry that used to take weeks, and reporting that took months is now instantly accessible via web reports. The best part? It's all affordable. We'll demo the technology and walk through the associated tools and costs. When you leave this webinar, you'll be ready to run your own wireless community survey.

Presented by Jamey Frank of STOP AIDS Project

Join us on June 7 at 11:am Pacific:

> Register Now!

"Muni wifi projects are popping up all over the country. Big cities and small towns alike are providing free or low-cost access to the Internet. We asked what this mean for nonprofit organizations. Can they play a role in shaping a city or town’s wireless program? How do nonprofit organizations ensure that there are relevant resources for their communities of interest? And how can nonprofit organizations best position themselves to take advantage of the opportunities that wireless access offers for the delivery of programs and services?"

NTEN's Special Projects Fellow Ali Levine summarizes in a two-part report on nonprofit's role in muni wireless programs about how to get involved in the planning and implementation of these programs, and describes how nonprofits can creatively use the potential of ubiquitous wireless for their programs and services.