While I lament, as a tax-payer, that Portland will likely have to foot the bill to remove MetroFi’s failed network, I’m heartened that they are taking the path of least cost and least resistance to close this chapter.

The suggestion that the network, as it stands, would work if only the city were to invest in it, is flawed. While there may indeed be potential in MetroFi’s hardware, tossing more money at the existing, failed deployment, is not the solution.

A replacement/redeployment of the MetroFi network requires an analysis of both the technical and financial problems with their model. As one of the “Portland geeks” who might be involved in taking the network over (if that were to occur), I strongly approve of the city’s decision to move forward cautiously, and not prejudge success, as you have.

The failure of these networks was largely technical and financial, not social. It is wrong to blame cities or citizens for not supporting them adequately. Indeed, if anything, many cities and individuals were too eager to support ideas and business plans that were not fully-formed.

Next generation networks, to the extent they come to be, will succeed through honest planning and hard work from dedicated, technical minds, not the feedback loop of industry boosters, blindly encouraging investment in projects they only know from press-releases.