Earthlink backs out of St. Petersburg WiFi

ST. PETERSBURG - Earthlink has pulled the plug on its plan to build a citywide WiFi network.

The company won the chance to build the network earlier this year, but is backing away from any projects where it has no signed contracts, says the city's chief technology officer, Muslim Gadiwalla.

Earthlink told him earlier this week it's out of the business, as reflected by the departure of the head of their municipal wireless division. The company halved its nationwide workforce earlier this week.

It beat out a St. Petersburg company, Citi WifiSt, that built similar systems in Dunedin and Treasure Island. For more background, read Citywide Wi-Fi plan is on hold.

WiFi networks around the country are on hold or worse as companies discover the networks are harder and more expensive to deploy than expected, but city governments are unwilling to become the main paying users.

Gadiwalla said the city will wait a year or more and watch how the market and new technologies play out before deciding what to do next.

-- Paul Swider, Times staff writer