There are a number of communities in Southern California who are clamoring to jump on the citywide wireless network bandwagon, but they seem to hitting a speed bump that they can't quite navigate over.
It appears that the power utility company Southern California Edison owns the majority of the street lights in these cities, and the company has admitted that it has dragged its feet in acting on requests from communities to allow access to the poles and electricity. Some of these requests came in over a year ago.
"Why the delay?" you ask.
Some city officials are claiming that Edison is downplaying the public demand for citywide wireless. In addition, others say the company is demanding that cities pay up to $2,000 a month to have wireless equipment installed on the light poles in question, way more than what cities and/or network vendors are paying. For example, MetroFi says it is paying on the average of about $36 a year for each light pole it places equipment on.
It is indeed outrageous for Southern California Edison to be so obstinate and hold their customers hostage--there is some talk of cities employing eminent domain to gain control of these light poles but, of =course, the company will put up a major fight which could cost these same communities money in any kind of litigation. It may take a class-action suit to force Edison to comply, so we'll see what happens down the road.
