Philadelphia launches their network with a party on Nov. 30: Muniwireless.com notes that the network will have a launch party after Thanksgiving. The Philadelphia launch is a $200 per person event sponsored by Wireless Philadelphia in a fancy penthouse apartment (see Muniwireless site for a PDF of the invitation).
Corpus Christi pushes network launch into Dec., considers partner: As reported earlier, the city is considering handing its network off to EarthLink for operation with a 10-year contract. In exchange, Corpus Christi would receive 3 to 5 percent of yearly gross receipts. As with most networks of this scale, the local paper reports that it "has been delayed because of signal-strength engineering problems"; engineers are now repositioning access points.
San Francisco showdown? The SF Examiner reports on a battle between the Board of Supervisors and the city's mayor. The two executive authorities apparently have a longstanding tension that far predates current officials. Early reports stated that the supervisors thought the Wi-Fi plan was designed without consideration as to alternatives. The board now may vote to force the network to be municipally owned.
Meanwhile, Google wants to put up its own SF test network: IDG News Service reports that Google wants to build a test network using as many as 1,500 utility poles in San Francisco that would be separate from the EarthLink network. (Google is EarthLink's partner, but will be a customer of EarthLink's network, purchasing 300 Kbps access that it will give away.) The city thinks it's unlikely to accommodate the request. EarthLink asked the city for access to 450 poles with an option for 1,500. The story says this access would be "a condition of its participating in the project," which is a far cry from earlier statements.
Colorado ski town gets Wi-Fi in time for season: Vail goes live with its CenturyTel-built network. The free service runs 300 Kbps, while paid bandwidth is much faster ($10 per day, $45 per week, $60 per month, $500 per year). The article strangely thinks that 100 Mbps Internet access is being offered, and notes that regular Wi-Fi only runs at 54 Mbps. I can't find a bandwidth figure elsewhere, although a press release from August suggests that 3 Mbps might be the top rate.