I have taken much criticism over the past several years by arguing that forcing the telephone and cable companies to open their networks to competitors (called "open access") was the wrong thing to do. And I got more scorn when I said the FCC did the right thing earlier this year by formally putting an end to line sharing for DSL.
I will not rehash the entire discussion, but my feeling then and now is that a level playing field would create new opportunities. And the recent announcement that Earthlink will build a WiFi network for the City of Philadelphia FOR FREE is vindication.
Earthlink has had a modest DSL access service that relied on its ability to lease DSL lines from local phone companies at below market rates. Once the FCC stopped requiring phone companies to lease lines to firms like Earthlink, that business dried up rather quickly.
So Earthlink has proposed and achieved a public/private partnership with the City of Philadelphia to install and manage a citywide WiFi mesh network. Their goal, of course, is to get into a huge market for broadband and compete against the cable and phone companies.
This never would have happened if the FCC had not come out against forced open access.
Philadelphia will provide Earthlink with access to public facilities to install antennas, and will also likely help with installing the fiber in streets that will be needed to light up the network (even in a mesh network, you still have to get the wireless signals back onto the wired Internet).
I was initially opposed to the Philadelphia project because I thought it was risky for a local government to take on a massive effort like this in advance of understanding the market. I still think having the government take on the services side is still risky in some cases. But Earthlink brought a proposal to the city that shifts virtually all of the risk to a private company. It's beautiful. And it happened because the local government got involved, instead of standing on the sidelines with its hands in its pockets.
Bottom line: Local government has a valuable role to play by creating a vision for the community and encouraging private sector investment to help make it happen. Philadephia leaders have done a great service for the community, and businesses and residents will have more choice for broadband access and services, and both the city and its businesses will save millions on telecom services.