San Francisco Wi-Fi plan may face political heat

A extremity of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors may gainsay the city ’s plan to build a municipal Wi - Fi net because he says there was not enough public input in outline a plan and choosing Google Inc. and EarthLink Inc. to establish and operate the web .

“ It really got rammed and jam-packed and fast - tracked , ” Supervisor Jake McGoldrick said in an interview come a meeting Friday of the Local Agency Formation Commission ( LAFCO ) , an oversight body for the combined City and County of San Francisco .

“ We may be calculate here at something that require to be wholly reworked , ” McGoldrick said , even though he acknowledged that a voter turnout at the Board of Supervisors on restarting the initiative would probably be tight .

McGoldrick ’s concerns about public input into the process were among many raised at the confluence .

Some say the free service is too irksome already and would be left behind over the proposed 15 - year terminus of a contract .

“ In 2021 , 300Kbps is going to seem a flake ridiculous … it ’s a enceinte solution for , like , 1996 , ” said Ralf Muehlen , director of SFLAN , a free , nonprofit Wi - Fi web in the urban center . Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi , who like McGoldrick is also a member of LAFCO , said he fears the free avail will miss out on upgrade .

Several speakers voice concerns about the city handing over its light poles and other assets to one company to mount accession points that could interfere with other wireless networks .

“ This is essentially a giveaway of spectrum , and it ’s a giveaway of resource , ” said Tim Pozar , chief operating policeman of UnitedLayer LLC , a San Francisco net service supplier that has set up wireless LANs in public housing projects . “ If I want to roll out out my own wireless connection , I very likely wo n’t be able to . ”

Vein said the RFP ( request for proposition ) was open to metropolis - ownership plan and that there might be legal constraints on the use of metropolis fiber . preventative wo n’t be as forged as some critic charge , he said .