Wouldn't it be nice to get paid $4000 per AP install?
Expecially when the average cost of a WARboard and custom MESH software is
less than $400 a unit, and can get installed in less than 4 hours.
And then on top of it, get another 1.5million a year, to pay your staff?
I don't know if its Earthlink or SanFrancisco that's footing the bill, but
to the life of me, I can't understand while these companies are justifing
using infalted priced name brand gear on these projects. Unless of course,
its just FUD, quoting retail value to the governement, and not the REAL
price they are getting the gear for.
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc
IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dawn DiPietro" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org>
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 5:45 AM
Subject: [WISPA] S.F. nears WiFi deal
S.F. nears WiFi deal
By Sarah Jane Tribble
Mercury News
San Francisco's wait for citywide wireless is nearing an end, a city
official said Thursday.
Chris Vein, director of the city's technology office, said he expects
contract negotiations with the joint Google and Earthlink team that was
awarded the nearly 50-square-mile project will end within the month. The
city's board of supervisors should begin reviewing the contract in January
and, if approved, installation will begin next year, he said.
``Certainly, this is taking a little longer than I had hoped,'' Vein said
while speaking on a panel at the IEEE Globecom telecommunications
conference held at the Fairmont Hotel this week. While not giving away
details about the negotiations, Vein warned other communities to ``expect
the unexpected'' when building a network.
Under the proposal, EarthLink -- one of the nation's largest Internet
service providers -- will build and maintain the wireless network. Google
plans to buy bandwith from Earthlink and then offer a free wireless
service to residents.
Data transfer speeds for free access would hover around 300 kilobits per
second, slower than most DSL connections but faster than dial-up.
EarthLink also will sell a service for about $20 a month that would run at
1 megabit per second.
After a lengthy bid process, San Francisco officials awarded the contract
to the Google and Earthlink team about six months ago. Negotiations have
centered on the levels of service that will be offered as well as public
policy issues such as ensuring all residents have access to the network,
an Earthlink official said.
On Thursday, Earthlink's municipal network executive Cole Reinwand said
the two sides planned to continue negotiations into today. Reinwand, who
also oversees Earthlink's other wireless deployments, said he was missing
the Philadelphia launch party Thursday night to talk with San Francisco
officials.
``We are anxious to get this done,'' he said during a brief interview
before Vein interrupted and asked him to hurry to negotiations.
San Francisco's project has been estimated to cost $6 million to $7
million to install, and $15 million for maintenance, billing and upgrades
over the next 10 years. EarthLink would install about 1,500 radio
transmitters -- made by Tropos Networks in Sunnyvale -- atop light poles
across the city.
A Google spokeswoman said the company is not leading the negotiations and
has not participated in all the meetings. Still, Google is ``hopeful''
negotiations will end soon.
Google, which launched a free wireless network in Mountain View in August,
participates in these projects to learn about wireless and how people use
it, Google product manager Larry Alder said during a conference
presentation.
While Alder said he wasn't ``authorized'' to say how many people are using
Mountain View's free network, he said the numbers far surpass anything the
company expected.
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