EarthLink: Can't Get Enough of Wi-Fi

Earthlink, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELNK) is definitely getting serious about Wi-Fi. This week, the company announced that there is now service in Milpitas, California.

The weak link for EarthLink has always been its dependence on other companies' infrastructures, such as cable and DSL. Obviously Wi-Fi is a good thing from that standpoint.

Trouble is, first you have to win the contract with a city. The company has been in protracted negotiations with San Francisco for just that.

I had a chance to interview Craig Settles, who is the author of Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless. According to him:

"This launch in Milpitas is important for the municipal wireless industry in general, but particularly so for EarthLink. During the next quarter the smaller cities are coming online first, rather than the high profile large cities such as Philly and Boston. Continued momentum for municipal wireless depends on how well the networks operate in these early deployments, and a good showing by EarthLink matters to them since so much of their future rides on muni wireless.

"Milpitas is also important because the small cities are pushing the envelope to use these networks to not only streamline mobile workforce operations costs, but also dramatically increase decision-making by workers in the field. Average citizens will benefit through streamlined government service delivery that improves economic, medical and quality of life conditions. As these changes are replicated and documented, they become guideposts for the larger cities as their networks go live later in the year."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates DealProfiles.com.