Glenn Fleishman ran a lengthy critique of the report on Wi-Fi Networking News, summarizing the it as "a case study of what went wrong in municipal wireless, starting as the premise that public ownership with private operators working as contractors is what was called for by Phila. stakeholders and common sense, and that the non-profit that should have run the network has accomplished little." He followed with a number of point-by-point challenges to statements in the report.

To be honest, I'm still sorting through its 64 pages and weighing the arguments inside. To be sure, the report is a critique--and often a scathing one--of the evolution of Philadelphia's network or, more specifically, of Wireless Philadelphia's partnership with EarthLink. It focuses heavily on the outcome's departures from the original guiding dream and is most critical of the fact that the Wireless Philadelphia of today is not operating in accordance with the input garnered from the public debate and community input that went into the plan early on.

It is also sure to galvanize debate over the merits of public v. private ownership of municipal networks. But I'm not sure that's the point. Like Glenn, I have a number of reservations about the why in which the evolution of Philadelphia's network is characterized in the Ethos Group's report. As he correctly points out, much of what happened in Philadelphia occurred out of necessity. The city just did not have the financial resources to take on the commitment of owning and operating the network. Thus, EarthLink's offer to do so emerged as an attractive alternative.

OK. Having gotten that out of the way, the Ethos Group's insistence on maximizing public input into the design, implementation and ownership of public projectsis....well, the word "noteworthy" seems like a crass understatement. As the debate over the report and the relative merits of public and private ownership continue (and they always will as they always have in the past), the public part of the equation should never lose sight of the public it's there to support.
 

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