by KYW's Mike Dunn
"Wireless Philadelphia" is on life support, with Earthlink poised to pull the plug after trying to convince the city to take over the troubled WiFi project.
Atlanta-based Earthlink is bailing out of municipal WiFi here, and has been trying without success to sell Wireless Philadelphia for months. More recently it has been negotiating with the Nutter administration to have the city take over the troubled WiFi effort.
Now, Earthlink has said in a published report that if there is no deal by Thursday it will shut down the network.
Earthlink spokesperson Chris Marshall sent responded with the following written statement:
"Earthlink has been negotiating for months to reach an agreement that works best for the city and our shareholders. Those negotiations continue, and we believe they will soon reach resolution."
In an e-mail, Wireless Philadelphia CEO Greg Goldman says that under Earthlink's contract with the city, the vendor cannot unilaterally impose any deadlines. Goldman says Wireless Philadelphia and the city continue to explore options for the network's future.
Mayor Nutter's spokesman, Doug Oliver, expressed similar sentiments:
"Conversations, fairly sensitive conversations, are ongoing."
Wireless Philadelphia was a pet project of former mayor John Street, who envisioned a WiFi sign blanketing the city. Currently the project is 80 percent complete, but huge portions of the city in the northeast and northwest are not covered.
Earthlink last month shut down its WiFi service in New Orleans after failing to find a buyer.
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