http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-wifi23nov23,0,3815210.story?track=tottextEDITORIAL
Making connections
November 23, 2005
A HIGH-SPEED INTERNET CONNECTION for every computer may be the 21st century equivalent of "a chicken in every pot." It's a utopian-sounding promise that local officials are making across the country, with projects underway in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Anaheim and Long Beach, among other cities.<snip>
Nevertheless, there are plenty of reasons for local governments not to do the job themselves. In addition to facing the nontrivial expense and risk of operating and maintaining a network, a city would be putting itself in direct competition with the privately owned telephone and cable TV companies that offer Internet access. That's not likely to be a fair fight. There's also a minefield of problems involving privacy, security and pirated or inappropriate material online.
Philadelphia is taking a different approach. It is negotiating a deal with Internet service provider Earthlink to make affordable wireless Internet access available throughout the city on a network built and owned by Earthlink. The company would assume all the risk, and some of the proceeds would be used to offer subsidized Internet access and computers to low-income residents.
Mountain View, Calif., meanwhile, struck a different kind of deal. It has an agreement with Google that will make wireless Internet access available for free throughout the Silicon Valley suburb, with no city funds involved.<snip>