I was lucky enough to be able to look over an advance copy of Bruce Kushnick’s new book, “The $200 Billion Broadband Scandal” — it’s a powerful critique documenting the trail of broken promises and misinformation perpetrated by many broadband service providers in order to get favorable treatment, special dispensation, and competition-free access to residents [...]

MetroFi has dropped the charges for Internet access in Cupertino, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara to . . . nothing. According to Glenn Fleishman, MetroFi can cover its costs and make money via advertising. Click here to read Glenn’s post and here to read his detailed cost-revenue analysis. I have to confess that although I knew [...]

Philadelphia and Earthlink have agreed upon a ten-year contract which now goes to the city council for approval. Among the terms are:Philadelphia and Earthlink have agreed upon a ten-year contract which now goes to the city council for approval. Among the terms are: * Earthlink owns the network and bears the cost of deploying and [...]

St. Louis Park has received four bids for wireless equipment for the pilot and implementation. They are negotiating with First Mile Wireless, a Tropos reseller. The city also received eleven proposals for partnerships and is negotiating with Unplugged Cities based in Fridley Minnesota. Unplugged wants to provide help desk, ISP hosting, and network management services.St. [...]

I have compiled a list of bids (RFPs, RFQs and RFIs) issued by cities and counties in 2005 and early 2006. The list also includes cities and counties that announced their intention to deploy wide-area wireless networks, but have not yet issued bids. The list is dated 30 January 2006. Please note that cities such [...]

Chandler, Arizona has entered into an agreement with NeoReach for a citywide Wi-Fi network. Although Chandler did not issue an RFP, it used the City of Tempe RFP which is allowed by Arizona Joint-Purchasing guidelines. The Tempe RFP was attached as an exhibit and incorporated in the use agreement between the City of Chandler and [...]

It’s my turn to become a guest commentator, this time in the Tropos Networks newsletter (27 January 2006), about what the future will bring:It’s my turn to become a guest commentator, this time in the Tropos Networks newsletter (27 January 2006), about what the future will bring: The telcos’ desire to eat out of two [...]

The City of Grand Rapids has issued its request for proposals (RFP) for a citywide wireless broadband network. The city is looking for a vendor to build, own, operate and maintain their own wireless broadband network, incorporating standards-based 802.11 b/g technology, for use by municipal, residential, commercial, non-profit, school, hospital, student and other users. Grand [...]