Philly Inquirer: A celebration of Wi-Fi; not all are invited
Comparisons between Philadelphia's central role in the Revolutionary War and its leading stance on the powder keg of city-provided Internet access have become hopelessly trite. Still, the city serves as ground zero for the debate between free-market purists and those who consider broadband as much a birthright as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, says Peter Orne, editorial director for the Wireless Internet Institute.
The group has organized the Digital Cities Convention at the Pennsylvania Convention Center today through Wednesday, and is billing it as "the largest metro-area, broadband-wireless event in the world."
Convention cochair and Philadelphia Chief Information Officer Dianah Neff helped mastermind Wireless Philadelphia, the ambitious plan to outfit the entire city with low-cost Wi-Fi wireless Internet access.
But don't expect much in the way of Wi-Fi fisticuffs at the convention. While Comcast Corp. and the major regional phone companies stand to lose vast sums from municipally run Internet systems, neither the cable giant nor the big phone firms appears on the convention's official schedule.- Akweli Parker
© 2004 The Philadelphia Inquirer. All Rights Reserved.
|