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Free Wi-fi Prompts BellSouth to Withdraw Donation

Posted by Zonk on from the a-bit-petty dept.

turbosaab writes "Shortly after learning of the New Orleans plan for free city-wide wireless internet, Bellsouth Corp. withdrew an offer to donate a damaged building to be used for police headquarters. According to the Washington Post, 'Bill Oliver, angrily rescinded the offer of the building in a conversation with New Orleans homeland security director Terry Ebbert.'"

2 of 479 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Jumping to conclusions? by Flashbck · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm from New Orleans and Bill Oliver used to be my neighbor. I knew this man for a few years and I do not believe that he would do such a thing. This is probably a case where the "city officials" are bending the truth a bit. Hell, I remember when I was in high school, I accudentally hit Mr. Oliver's car when I was in a rush to get to school. I knocked on his door to tell him about it and he just laughed it off and made some joke about how he had a dent there that he wanted to fix anyway. This supposed angry rescission of the offer is probably a case of Mr. Oliver telling the "city officials" that the building is not ready to be occupied yet and is being spun into something completely different to help int he acceptance of city-wide free WiFi.

    I for one hope that the WiFi stays. I'll still pay for my Cox Communications cable modem for the faster speeds at home, but it would be nice to bring my laptop to the park and be able to get an internet connection there.

  2. Re:BellSouth has been known to suck. by woolio · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When I was a BellSouth customer, I did not have any need of long-distance services...

    Because I did not select a carrier, they actually charged me a FEE for NOT using a carrier!!!!

    Charged if you do, charged if you don't...

    Even the basic tax rules of the IRS are a bit more sensible...