Wifi meltdown, Newsom meltdownBy Tim Redmond
It's no surprise that Earthlink has backed out of its deal to provide free wi-fi in San Francisco; we predicted this weeks ago.
What's annoying is that the mayor is trying to blame the supervisors for delaying the contract. What -- they should have rushed to approve it even as the prime vendor was telling the rest of the world that it wasn't interested in this line of business any more? The supes should have done no due diligence and just gone along with what the mayor wanted?
Newsom's big election-year initiative has just burned down, and he's looking for a scapegoat. It's your own fault, My. Mayor; it was a bad deal from day one.
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Comments (1)
EarthLink's economic reasons for pulling out are because the service provided was not usable indoors (where most internet usage occurs)- therefore people were not canceling their dsl/cable wired connections.
Newsom's original RFP required 90% indoor coverage - which was missing in the final EarthLink contract. This agreement also was structured with no service level agreement - Trust Us - we'll work it out. And let's not forget the automatic renewals resulting in a contract (really a franchise - even the Legislative Analyst called it that)
ACLU/EFF/EPIC sent the city 7 letters over the course of two years asking that privacy issues be addressed and they were not.
Posted by Kimo Crossman | August 31, 2007 03:41 PM