Philly hopes to keep Wi-Fi services

The city of Philadelphia has opened negotiations with an unnamed group aimed at keeping its Wi-Fi wireless internet network up and running. The first phase of the planned citywide network was built out by Earthlink and launched last year, but the ISP then decided to exit the municipal Wi-Fi sector after realising that it could not make a return on its early investments with poorer than expected customer take-up. Having failed to find a buyer for the Philadelphia network, Earthlink announced last month that it would be shutting the network down on 12 June. A spokesperson for the city’s mayor, Michael Nutter, has confirmed that negotiations are under way but would not confirm whether they involved a company or a community group, Associated Press reports.