The city and a WISP both plan Wi-Fi service: The city wants to find a provider to install Wi-Fi across the town at the provider's expense, while Bright House Networks will expand a small existing footprint to more of the downtown. Five companies responded to the cities RFP, but not Bright House; the area to cover is 60 square miles.
Bright House offers cable TV and broadband locally, and will provide Wi-Fi free to its existing cable customers. Walk-up service is a buck for 30 minutes up to $9 a day. I have a great sound bite at the end of this article. When asked by the report whether the jury was out on metro-scale Wi-Fi, I rejoined: "The trial hasn't even started."
It does make you wonder why the city would want Wi-Fi if there is already a provider. Or why a provider wouldn't respond to the RFP if they wanted to provide service. I know several providers in the Atlanta market that are building Wi-Fi networks now that have no intention of responding to the RFP. One the one hand, the RFP is written to exclude most providers. On the other hand, a winning bidder doesn't get much from the city of value; not even worthwile mounting assets.
[Editor's note: There's a big difference between installing service over a few city blocks or even square miles and instlaling a 60-sq-mi network. --gf]