Philadelphia Considering Universal Wireless Access

The City of Brotherly Love is reportedly considering making the entire city a wireless hotspot. The ambitious $10 million project would blanket the city with a "wireless mesh;" access would either be free or very low-cost. If it can pull this off, Philadelphia would become the largest city to offer universal wireless access, and would have an edge in attracting high-tech residents and businesses. Observers agree that if the cost could be held to $10 million, the network would also be a relative bargain. New York City is considering a similar initiative for $21 million.

The project, however, remains in the early stages and faces many obstacles... not the least of which are Philadelphia's budget woes, inevitable political infighting, and the city's notorious union conflicts.

Read an ongoing discussion of the project on Slashdot.