EarthLink to build Wi-Fi for New Orleans.(News)

Byline: JONI MORSE Whereas BellSouth Corp. tried legal maneuvers to shut down New Orleans' free municipal Wi-Fi network even though the city's hurricane-weary residents and thousands of relief and rebuilding workers had no other means of Internet access, EarthLink Inc. went after the city's business, offering to build a Wi-Fi network with both free and paid-for service.

And EarthLink's strategy paid off, as the New Orleans City Council approved an ordinance for the company to build a 15 square-mile Wi-Fi network to replace the city-owned network. EarthLink said the new mesh network will provide advertising-free access at speeds up to 300 kilobits per second at no charge for a limited time while the city rebuilds, along with 1-megabit-per-second...

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