NEWS: Cities have to bid bye-bye to free Wi-Fi

<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/11/BU681140TT.DTL>

The free municipal Wi-Fi dream appears to be coming to an end for a
handful of Bay Area cities.

MetroFi, a Mountain View wireless provider that had built its
business largely from advertising-supported Wi-Fi networks, is just
over a week away from pulling the plug on its nine networks including
Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, downtown San Jose, Foster City and
Concord, part of a larger pullback due to a lack of revenue.

Last month, the company informed local users and the cities it
operates in that the system will go dark as early as June 20. MetroFi
is putting its assets up for sale and has reached out to cities and
Internet service providers, hoping they might buy these local
networks. So far, four of the Bay Area cities have turned MetroFi
down, while Santa Clara and San Jose are still evaluating the offer.
The cities are being asked to pay anywhere from $60,000 in San Jose
to $408,000 in Concord for the equipment.

Unless a third-party provider swoops in to continue service, MetroFi
will begin dismantling its networks, ending what has been for many
cities a valuable service for residents and a nice technology badge
of honor.

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Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>