After what seemed like an endless period of negotiations, it looks like a contract between EarthLink and Google and the city of San Francisco to develop and deploy a wireless network is about set to be completed.
According to the city's CTO director, a contract should be agreed to by the end of the month. After the new year, it will be reviewed by the board of supervisors and, if things go smoothly and it gets approved, work on building the network will begin shortly thereafter.
There's been much controversy over the proposed network since EarthLink and Google were awarded the bid over six months ago. Questions surrounding privacy, access levels, and whether the city government should go about running the network itself made headlines, but it appears that the parties have agreed in principal to a framework so that the actual work can begin.
As we've said here many times, this particular network is a very important one to watch in the development of citywide wireless networks since it is being built in one of the most technologically savvy areas in this country, if not the world. There will be much scrutiny as it is being built and certainly more when it is finally launched.
