The D.C. goverment is asking companies to bid on building a wireless system in the city. The major difference between this plan and ones in other cities like Philadelphia is that it won't be citywide. Instead, low income residents will be given preference.

This is an interesting twist on a way to help ease the digital divide, while keeping internet service providers happy. People who would get access to wireless hot spots would have a slower connection rate than people who paid for wireless service. So the divide wouldn't disappear but would be diminished, and companies wouldn't feel that the city is taking away their business, hopefully.

Another interesting part of this plan is that it will reward the company that thinks up the best, feasible way to reach low income families:

"The essential evaluation factor will be: The more digital divide clients that you propose to serve within the first three years . . . the higher your ranking will be in the selection process," D.C. Deputy Chief Technology Officer Peter Roy, who is writing the District's request for proposals, said in an interview. Washington Post

I'm interested to see what the backlash is from this plan, and if any other cities decide to implement similar networks. As a DC resident, this seems like a very DC thing to do, but I'm not sure how it would go over in other cities.

Read the Washington Post article.