In 2006, Boston officials announced they would form an independent nonprofit group, OpenAirBoston, to own and operate the city’s future wi-fi network. The efforts of OpenAirBoston, however, have been hurt by slow fund raising and technological challenges, forcing officials to push back the anticipated wi-fi start date past the end of 2008 and to readjust fund-raising goals, reports The Boston Globe.

Officials declined to say how much has been raised so far, but the anticipated levels of donations from businesses and foundations have been scaled back, from up to $20-million to the current $12- to $15-million.

OpenAirBoston hopes that a successful wi-fi demonstration project it is testing in the city’s low-income neighborhood of Grove Hall will spur more people to give and demonstrate the ability of wireless to bridge the “digital divide” between affluent and less-affluent areas in Boston. City and OpenAirBoston officials have enlisted and trained several families in Grove Hall to test the network in various places and provide feedback on the signal strength.

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