Flickr Photo: hykuPhiladelphia has been at the fore of communities offering wireless internet access to their citizens. With 70% of the city now covered, it's arguably the showcase effort among major cities in the country.

Unfortunately, Philadelphia's CIO, Terry Phillis, announced yesterday that he expects Earthlink will pull out of Philadelphia by the end of the year, leaving the city to prepare for an uncertain future. Phillis told ComputerWorld [1]:

"We consider [the Wi-Fi network] an asset for the city. Our priority is to get it completed, to service the digital divide, to enhance tourism and to serve mobile city workers. But I can't talk a lot about our plans" [if Earthlink leaves].

Earthlink is not releasing information about the number of subscribers to the service, but the city has already seen some success with one of the main goals of the project: bringing internet access to low income communities.

Wireless Philadelphia [2], the nonprofit in charge of ensuring digital inclusion under the new WiFi plan, reports that 750 households are signed up for the service, with a goal of 1000 by May.

The numbers are still small, but you have to start somewhere. As Phillis points out:

"We're at the center of discussions worldwide about finding ways to bridge the digital divide. Philadelphia is actually doing it.... I wish in many ways the project were doing better, but we're on the leading edge of something new."