Corpus Christi Wi-Fi

Corpus Christi has a wireless network built in 2004 for meter reading in a 20 square mile "pilot". The City Council is voting on giving EarthLink a deal:

The agreement would come in the form of two ordinances granting Earthlink a concurrent one-year and 10-year franchise of the wireless, or Wi-Fi, network, according to a draft of the ordinance. For use of the city's network, Earthlink would pay 3 percent to 5 percent of yearly gross receipts, the draft said.

Corpus Christi Digital Community Corp., a nonprofit corporation started by the council, provides free but spotty Wi-Fi Internet access to some parts of the city. The citywide network was started in January with a final projected cost of $7.1 million, Martinez said. The project originally was scheduled for completion by late August or early September and has been delayed because of signal-strength engineering problems, Martinez said. A rough border for the network is in place but crews need to reposition or add radio transmitters that broadcast the Wi-Fi signal, said Ogilvie Gericke, director of municipal information systems for the city.