On the same day that Chicago ended its plans for citywide Wi-Fi, EarthLink announced a total corporate restructuring that will result in the company firing 900 employees (almost half of its workforce) and closing its Orlando, FL; Knoxville, TN; Harrisburg, PA and San Francisco, CA offices.

And that may not be all.

"While we see this as an important first step in unlocking the underlying value that we believe is in our company, we are only eight weeks into the process of repositioning EarthLink for the future," says company CEO Rolla P. Huff. "These changes get our cost structure in line, but there is much more to do. We expect to announce additional steps as we continue our work over the coming weeks and months."

But please don't think he doesn't care...

"We are extremely appreciative of our employees' dedication and contributions, and we hope that the benefits and services we have put in place to provide assistance will help during this time of transition," Huff says. "While we recognize this is a difficult time for those affected individuals, this was a needed action for the company to better align our cost structure with our existing business."

"While EarthLink's statement about the job cuts doesn't include a single mention of Wi-Fi, the company's municipal Wi-Fi business is likely to be hit hard," notes InfoWorld's Nancy Gohring. "A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made on Tuesday says the position of president of municipal networks is being eliminated and Don Berryman, who held the position, is one of the employees being let go."

More here from Silicon Alley Insider ... more here from CNET News ... more here from InternetNews ... more here from Wired Blogs ... and the press release is here.