San Francisco wants more with free wireless.
VoIP IP Telephony @ http://snapvoip.blogspot.com
I have reported this before under the following post;
VOIP IP Telephony: San Francisco's Google Free Wireless finally on the go and now I hear that Board of Supervisors are putting holt to Mayor Newsom's plans to give free wireless internet access to the masses in San francisco.
In April, San Francisco chose its plan from among six. Atlanta-based EarthLink would create a wireless network and charge customers $21.95 a month. Mountain View-based Google planned to rent space on the network and offer a slower, ad-supported version for free.
Now after more than two years later, with Newsom having signed a contract with the Internet providers in January, the Board of Supervisors last week declined to even consider the deal. The board, whose approval is required, decided instead to investigate turning the project into a city-owned public utility.
Elsewhere in the press reported that;
"Google is considering targeting ads by location, so, for example, someone in Union Square searching the Web for a shoe store might see offers for nearby shops first.
But the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other advocates raised concerns about EarthLink's privacy policy.
They also complained that Goggle's ability to track the whereabouts of network users could prove irresistible to law enforcement (Google said people worried about such things could sign up using false names).
Additionally, some citizens of this high-tech city aren't willing to settle for just any wireless connection, even if it's free. EarthLink's paid service is about three times faster than Goggle's free one.
The speed of the free service "is so 1997, said Ralf Muehlen, a software developer who operates a small free wireless network here and wants the city to push EarthLink for better technology. "I'm a techie. It's too slow for me." "
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