Philadephia chose Earthlink as a partner to develop and operate its municipal wireless network earlier this week. Either partner would have likely been a good choice, and it's hard to know what went on behind closed doors in the negotiations. In choosing Earthlink as a partner, I think Philadelphia acknowledges that there is a lot of work to do beyond building a network. Experience with customer acquisition, customer service, truck rolls, billing, etc. all must be core competencies for any partner that a city selects.