IDG News Service reports SF has narrowed its choices to build a city-wide Wi-FI network to three groups: SF Metro Connect, MetroFi, and Google/EarthLink are the leading candidates. City officials didn't confirm this report, the article states.
SF Metro Connect, a partnership of non-profit Seakay, Cisco, and IBM, said earlier this week that they would immediately start work on offering a free, symmetrical 1 Mbps connection in cities around the country regardless of the SF outcome. Their press release states that they will use a public radio/TV style model of sponsorships from individuals, corporations, and foundations. In the IDG article, they also propose allowing other operators to offer for-fee services--but not tiered bandwidth. They state they will not collect personal data, although they don't elaborate in their press release. Seakay was founded as a neighborhood-based group that offers information technology training.