As Arlington County this month mulls whether to approve Earthlink’s contract to install countywide Wi-Fi, Alexandria’s own Earthlink network is already under way, with service expected to begin in June.
EarthLink began work on Alexandria’s network Dec. 16, Alexandria E-Government Manager Craig Fifer said. EarthLink is funding the $2.7 million network installation itself, and Alexandria will receive additional revenue from the measure through a 5 percent sales tax imposed by the state.
“One of the nice byproducts of winding up with the same provider is that there will be more uniformity,” Fifer said. “We will be able to work with Arlington to share access in ways that will benefit our operations.”
The two networks will be shared by emergency service providers who often do work in both areas. Some bus routes using Alexandria’s Wi-Fi service run through Arlington as well, Fifer said. Pasadena, Calif.-based Earthlink will charge $21.95 per month for the service in homes, and offer occasional-use passes for $3.95 per hour, $7.95 per day and $15.95 for three days, just as it will in Arlington.
Alexandria gets a number of benefits out of their arrangement with Earthlink, including 500 free accounts for government workers, a discount for additional government workers using the network, free wireless in public areas such as the library and the waterfront, free accounts for laptops in public schools and 2,700 half-price accounts for low-income residents. The county is still determining how it will distribute the low-income accounts, Fifer said. Alexandria has had free Wi-Fi for the past two years in a six-block corridor near King Street as part of a pilot project, Fifer said.
