Wireless Silicon Valley going forward with Wi-Fi plans
Wireless Silicon Valley is still on, despite all the bad news about MetroFi’s decision to pull out of Portland, Oregon and other cities. The city of San Carlos will be the first municipality to get unwired after the city council gave its approval. Covad, the city’s Internet provider, just happens to be Wireless Silicon Valley’s partner in the project. We’ll see if they get beyond San Carlos. One of the problems with Silicon Valley is that it is spread out geographically; on the other hand, there are many people in the Valley who want to be connected all the time but don’t want to pay for EVDO service. Many are early adopters of wireless devices — not just iPhones but also the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS, both of which come with Wi-Fi.
I don’t think Wireless Silicon Valley will go anywhere unless the municipalities use the network for government applications. Why? Because most people in the Valley already have cable or DSL service. Those who need to have connectivity on the go, already have a data plan or go to cafes for Wi-Fi access.
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I think the larger point of this story is not that of the wireless silicon valley project moving forward. To me, the fact that wire-line providers like Covad are embracing (or at least exploring) wireless technologies as a compliment to their existing business is a big deal. Time will tell if they can find real dollars where previous start-up ISP’s could not, but I am intrigued!
and we know what a great job the ex covad people did at metrofi