Earthlink and the city of Philadelphia have now finalized a contract under which Earthlink will build a city-wide wi-fi network. Earthlink will own the network and charge a wholesale rate to Internet service providers that would then resell the services to the public at very low cost. If all goes well, the system should be available throughout the city next year. City council still has to approve the contract. Unless city council manages to foul it up -- I have great confidence in their greed and incompetence! -- this may be a great thing for the public and a bad thing for the future of BPL. BPL isn't workable in rural areas, and if big cities can make deals for low-cost wireless service, BPL may be unable to compete in the big cities, too. The Philadelphia story is posted at http://www.nbc10.com/technology/6592239/detail.html. 73 - Kay N3KN