Wireless Philadelphia, the allegedly cost-free solution the digital divide, has not come completely free to the city, the city's Chief Information Officer said yesterday.
City Councilman Frank Rizzo elicited the point during budget hearings Tuesday. Under questioning yesterday by Rizzo, the city CIO Terry M. Phillis acknowledged that he is paying a consultant $200,000 this year as his "technical project manager." (As first reported by KYW 1060 AM on Monday).
The consulting company, Strategic Staffing, gets the money. Their representative is Varinia Robinson, who was first contracted in 2004 as an assistant to former city CIO Dianah Neff. Before this year, the city paid Strategic Staffing $128,000 in Fiscal Year 2005, $4,000 in FY 2006 (the rest paid for by Wireless Philadelphia), and $188,000 in FY2007, and $200,000 in FY 2008 for a cost of $520,000.,
Although Mayor Street promised that Wireless Philadelphia would be built at no-cost by Earthlink, Phillis said it was always anticipated that someone from the city would have to oversee it. "This is the cost for managing this, not for building it -- I know this is splitting hairs," Phillis said in an interview. "Doesn't it make sense that you have someone to manage the project?"
Wireless Philadelphia is about 70 percent built -- the Northeast and Northwest parts of the city remain uncovered -- but Earthlink has announced plans to sell its municipal wi-fi business. Phillis said the project must be completed by November or Earthlink is in default of its contract.
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