It's down to two companies who are slugging it out to win the bid to develop and deploy Houston's citywide wireless network, which is expected to cost over $40 million and cover 600 square miles by the time it is completed in 2008.
The finalists are EarthLink, which as we all know has won bids to build networks in a number of cities across the nation, and a local company, Convergent Broadband. According to some sources within the city government, an announcement of the winning bidder could come within the next few days.
As it stands, the Houston network would be the largest in the nation, so the winning company will have an impressive feather in their cap, but also the responsibility of building a network that must be able to serve the needs of this large city. Both bidders have their advantages--EarthLink is a nationally recognized name and has a portfolio to back it, while Convergent Broadband is a local company that boasts a leadership with many relationships with the local business community.
That being said, it is essential that the decision-makers in this process make sure they do all the research necessary to make the right decision.
