It's taken a while, but the city of San Francisco and EarthLink and Google have finally agreed on a contract for the development and deployment of a citywide wireless network.
The contract stipulates that Google will offer free basic service at 300 kbits per second while EarthLink will offer an enhanced service at $21.95 a month at speeds reaching 1 megabit per second. At this point, the contract has to be ratified by the city's Board of Governors, so there's no timetable as to when construction will begin as well as roll-out.
In any case, it's a big victory for Mayor Gavin Newsom who championed the concept of citywide wireless network early on. This network is certainly going to be one of the higher-profile muni WiFi projects in the country, and it is essential that this project succeed for citywide wireless to succeed.
