Wireless Silicon Valley may have two tests up soon: Palo Alto and San Carlos could have agreements in place to set up pilot projects within a few days, the Palo Alto Daily reports. Palo Alto and San Carlos would each host a one-square-mile testbed. It would take about four months to build a network of 35 to 40 access points in each location. This is a big first step in the project, as part of what's at issue is a model agreement that the 41 individual municipal entities in the project need to approve separately; that agreement is apparently fairly far along, this article reports. An IBM spokesperson estimated the network's cost at over $100m, which is somewhat higher than earlier estimates, but may reflect the partners'--Azulstar, Cisco, IBM, and Seakay--interest in testing more technology and systems than are strictly necessary, since they're footing the bill.
Toledo's conditions may limit bidders: Toledo may delay bidding process to obtain more bids. At least one potential bidder, 20/20 Communications, won't participate because of specific demands the city has built into the RFP. An incumbent fiber and cable TV operator, Buckeye Express may have too much of a natural advantage for backhaul. Buckeye is owned by the same firm that owns the local newspaper.
No RFP for St. Louis deal with AT&T? Esme Vos at Muniwireless.com says, "Show me the RFP." There was no public tender process, she notes. The mayor of St. Louis's blog simply notes he asked the board of aldermen to introduce and vote on a bill enabling the deal.