San Francisco heads to city Wi-Fi

San Francisco has become the latest major city to take a step toward a municipal Wi-Fi network.

Last week, the city accepted six vendor proposals to build a wireless mesh to blanket the hilly community and provide "universal, affordable" Internet access.

In a statement, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said that such "access to information is a fundamental government service, akin to libraries or public schools."

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

San Francisco has become the latest major city to take a step toward a municipal Wi-Fi network.

Last week, the city accepted six vendor proposals to build a wireless mesh to blanket the hilly community and provide "universal, affordable" Internet access.

In a statement, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said that such "access to information is a fundamental government service, akin to libraries or public schools."

The planned Wi-Fi network is part of the city's TechConnect project, which includes low-cost computer and network hardware, training and other services to spread acceptance and use of broadband access.

The proposals came from Communication Bridge Global; EarthLink and Google; MetroFi; NextWLAN; Razortooth Communications; and SF Metro Connect, which is a joint effort by SeaKay, Cisco and IBM.

EarthLink, which is aggressively pursuing municipal wireless network contracts, announced its partnership last week with Google. EarthLink is interested in fee-based Wi-Fi services; Google earlier had offered to install a city wireless network for Internet access that would be free to city users. Together, the two companies are proposing an advertiser-paid basic Internet service; a higher-speed Internet service would be available for about $20 per month.

A city review panel will analyze the proposals and make its recommendations in early April. Deployment could begin soon after the city finalizes a contract with the winning bidder.

San Francisco is part of a growing list of municipalities looking to offer public Wi-Fi systems, including Boston, Chicago, Miami, Minneapolis and Philadelphia.

Read more about wireless & mobile in Network World's Wireless & Mobile section.