But BellSouth’s Louisiana operation "angrily" yanked the offer because it’s upset by the New Orleans project to launch the first free wireless network to be owned and run by a major US city.
"Around the country, large telephone companies have aggressively lobbied against localities launching their own Internet networks, arguing that they amount to taxpayer-funded competition," says the story. "Some states have laws prohibiting them."
When news of the New Orleans Wi-Fi service broke last week, Steve Sawyer, Cox Communication vp of public and government affairs for New Orleans, said the company would "watch to see how the city operates and expands the WiFi system," says the Times-Picayune. "I’m not going to lie and say we don’t care," he said.
"BellSouth spokesman Merlin Villar said Tuesday that company managers were not prepared to comment on the city network," said he story, adding that both companies learned about the WiFi network from media reports.
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