Terrific news for New Orleans:

Earthlink Inc., the Internet service provider, said on Friday it has won approval from the New Orleans City Council to build a wireless high-speed Internet network in the city.

The way Bell South and Cox Communication acted in this matter (suing to get temporary city wide network shut down during the immediate aftermath of Katrina, etc.) was absolutely shameful, and it’s a great thing that they’ll be shut out of the rebuilding process. Companies like Bell South and Cox deserve nothing but bankruptcy and massive amounts of public scorn. It’s sickening to see the almighty dollar placed above the well being of an American city.

Further details: The Earthlink network will have a free and a paid tier, with the free going up to 300kbps and the paid up to 1mbps.

Hopefully this will make a big difference in attracting business and industry back to New Orleans.