City officials in Alexandria, Va., will present a plan to the City Council on Tuesday calling for EarthLink to build a municipal wireless network. The network would cover 16 square miles.
EarthLink, an Internet Services Provider that is based in Atlanta, has recently won several contracts to build similar networks for other cities.
The Alexandria network would utilize wireless fidelity (WiFi) broadband technology. The City Council will make its decision known on Dec. 16.
“When the City launched ‘Wireless Alexandria’ last year, it was beginning its journey into making government more efficient and improving residents quality of life, which are just a few of the benefits of a city-wide municipal wireless network,” said Donald Berryman, president of EarthLink’s municipal networks unit. “Alexandria is now taking the next step by authorizing EarthLink to build an affordable and portable state-of-the-art network that will enable Internet access anywhere throughout the City.”
The plan calls for free wireless access at some two dozen public locations and a price of $9.95 per month for access to low-income residents.
EarthLink: www.earthlink.net
