Wi-Fi With Its Own Zip Code – Addison, Tex residents get fast wireless Web access for just $16.95 a month

As more municipalities set up wireless networks, a fast-moving business emerges

Addison, Tex., joined the nation’s tech elite on Aug. 23. With the flick of a switch, Mayor Joe Chow turned on a city Wi-Fi network that covers all 4.5 square miles of the Dallas suburb. Now, Addison’s 100,000 residents can buy fast wireless Web access from startup RedMoon Inc. for just $16.95 a month — a far better deal than most phone or cable broadband offerings.

As towns across the country launch wireless broadband networks to bring affordable Web access to their residents, companies from tiny RedMoon to heavyweights such as Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ ) are jockeying to become their partners. Their motivation: Getting in on the ground floor of a potentially fast-growing business while creating an alternative to the Bells and cable outfits that control most of the country’s broadband pipes.

On Aug. 18, Wireless Philadelphia, the nonprofit running that city’s Wi-Fi network, chose HP and EarthLink Inc. (ELNK ) as finalists to build and manage its $18 million system. Minneapolis is now reviewing proposals from EchoStar Communications Corp. (DISH ) and Sprint Nextel Corp. (S ), among others, to build and run a $15 million to $35 million citywide network. Google Inc. (GOOG ) sponsors a wireless hot zone in San Francisco’s Union Square, and analysts wonder if the Internet giant will bid for the city’s new Wi-Fi project.

Full Story: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_36/b3949053_mz011.htm