A preliminary plan to build a citywide WiFi network in Portland, Oregon has been agreed to by a group of supporters seeking a private company to build and maintain the network. Members of the Portland Wireless Internet Project are suggesting that the city would act as an "anchor tenant" for the network, committing to use it in outlying city offices, for collecting data from city parking meters, and in other circumstances where wireless Internet access would be cheaper than other networks.
However, it remains to be seen if any private company would agree to build the network in exchange for access to rooftops of city-owned buildings and other government property for network antennas. In addition, it hasn't been determined how much the city would charge residents to access the network. The project's members will begin soliciting bids this summer and select a company to build the system by the end of the year.
21. I do not get the feel in Portland that the technology-minded progressives fully understand what is at stake here. Otherwise there would be a much larger discussion concerning WiMax. Hopefully someone will engage the columnists at the 3 local papers. As a businessman, I do not want to wait 2 years while a couple Portland commissioners stall the project, which happened with broadband cable.
Posted at 6:37AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Billy Kidd