Ahoy, there, municipalities! Pony up service contracts or prepared for us to...leave: The anchor tenant/Anchorage city connection may have gotten to me. MetroFi has lost its bid to unwire Anchorage after the mayor was shocked to learn that the ad-supported, free-to-the-public network would require the city to commit to purchase services in advance as an, well, anchor tenant. The mayor seems to indicate that it was an initial $3,000 per month payment--earnest money, seemingly--prior to the first phase of the network's completion that was the sticking point, but the article goes on to indicate the council and mayor thought the network would involve no commitment.

I say, c'mon, here, because MetroFi shifted their business model a few months ago, many articles were written about it, and I find it hard to believe that the bid didn't mention that. Anchorage doesn't seem to make these documents available online (perhaps in person); the AP story quotes just the mayor on the subject.

MetroFi sent me a statement that notes: "In MetroFi's submitted proposal and subsequent discussions with the municipality and leadership of Anchorage, it has consistently been our position and understanding of the agreement that the Municipality of Anchorage would use the proposed Wi-Fi network for city services such as public safety. MetroFi's 'anchor tenancy' requirement for all new city contracts has been widely reported in national, trade and local press as a fiscally-responsible business model for municipal Wi-Fi projects, and we have included this requirement in all of the17 municipal Wi-Fi proposals we currently have pending with U.S. cities."

What they said. If the bid documents are public and any Alaskans care to forward them, much obliged.

Update: The local paper reports on the Rashomon story, and the reporter sees the non-confidential parts of MetroFi's bid, which state the network will be built at no upfront costs to the city. There may be some confusion about which part involves no upfront costs, too: The networks MetroFi builds involve no upfront costs; the fees are paid for services, not for network infrastructure. Confidential parts of the bid might contain additional information, but the reporter wasn't allowed to see them. Great sunshine act you got there in Alaska. I've contacted MetroFi asking them to send me a redacted bid that would omit proprietary financial details and other facts from the confidential part.