Bid to provide citywide wireless...

EarthLink has teamed up with Google on a bid to offer free wireless internet access throughout the city of San Francisco and a premium service for a fee, a Google spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The Google-EarthLink bid was among six presented to the city by Tuesday, the bidding deadline, according to a statement from the office of San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom. A review panel is expected to make recommendations by early April, the statement said.

The other proposals were submitted by Communication Bridge Global, MetroFi, NextWLAN, Razortooth Communications (dba RedTAP) and SF Metro Connect (a joint venture of community-computing not-for-profit SeaKay and Cisco Systems and IBM).

Google said in a statement: "In this proposal, Google will provide a free wi-fi service citywide and EarthLink will serve as the premium service provider. We have submitted this proposal because at Google we're focused on creating new technologies that make it easier for people to quickly access the world's information. It is also a way for Google to support the local community.


Full article: silicon.com