Posted on August 30, 2006 at 1:47 PM in @earthlink
Note: The below is an archived entry from Earthling, formerly EarthLink's official blog. The blog itself has been decommissioned and is no longer updated, and comments are trackbacks are no longer accepted.
The Times-Picayune published an article today with some information about EarthLink's Wi-Fi project in New Orleans, and I also got some questions from Earthling reader Dave Ryan about the current status. I spoke to Clifton, the project's General Manager to get a run-down of the current status and plans.
One correction to my earlier entry -- I guess I incorrectly picked up an error that the Times-Picayune reported in July of a "September 1 launch date" for the Wi-Fi network. As is correctly reported today, that September date is wrong. We haven't had a specific launch date targeted, but we'll begin building in September and our current estimate is that we'll complete the initial 20 sq. mile rollout in late December. Here are Dave's other questions:
- One of the wireless signals I keep getting in the French Quarter/CBD area is named "CityofNewOrleans." Is this the one provided by Earthlink?
Earthling: No, this isn't ours. This is probably a City of New Orleans signal from their existing network.
- I've read that Sept of this year is the goal that was set to "unwire" us. Are you able to meet that goal?
Earthling: That was incorrectly reported in July as a goal (see above). We're estimating late December for the initial 20 square miles.
- Will the 1Mbps speed be available to residents willing to pay for it? Or is that speed only for businesses?
Earthling: There will be a consumer retail service at 1Mb in addition to the free tier of service at 300 kbps.
- If the above services will indeed be available to residents, I want to get a headstart and be one of the first to sign up when all is said and done. Is there a way I can recieve an email notification?
Earthling: At http://www.feather.net/neworleans, you can sign up to be notified when the service is available to you. There's also more information there about the initial coverage area: "a 20 square mile area encompassing most of the area from Carrollton through the French Quarter and South to the River, and Algiers on the West Bank." An initial coverage map will be published there as well.
As an aside, I have a short trip to New Orleans planned for mid-September, and I hope to pull together some sort of blogger meetup while I'm there. I'll provide more details when my schedule is nailed down.