New buyer could mean new life for Tempe Wi-Fi network

The muni wireless network in Tempe, Arizona, has had its ups and downs. Now, it appears to be up again. An investment firm is interested in buying the system from Kite Networks.

Kite was spun out of MobilePro, which built the network, in February in a move designed to attract additional investments which it seems it needed. According to a report in the Arizona East Valley Tribune, the company has had to triple the number of antennas around the city to address problems of weak indoor coverage. But city council members have continued to receive complaints from unhappy customers.

Enter Telescape Communications, a California firm whose Chairman Ted Neely claims has 130,000 customers, the corporate wherewithal to run the Tempe network profitably, and plans to raise its subscriber list from the 500 it has currently to 10,000.

The Tribune quotes Neely as saying “We don’t think metro wi-fi makes sense in every market but we think it makes sense in this metro.”

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