City may go wireless City may go wireless (November 19, 2004)

Provider could bring Wi-Fi to local homes

By Candice Shih

Wireless Internet access in most Mountain View homes may soon become a reality if the city council approves a new agreement with provider MetroFi.

The two-year-old company based on Latham Street is approaching the city for use of about 100 utility poles for its local network. MetroFi would pay about $3,600 per year for use of the poles. The council is tentatively scheduled to consider its non-exclusive proposal at Tuesday's meeting.

"They would put devices on top of the poles that will provide wireless access for a certain radius around the device," said Cathy Lazarus, the city's public works director. "Their plan, eventually, is to provide service to the entire city."

Installation would begin early next year and take a couple of weeks if the plan is approved, said MetroFi co-founder Pankaj Shah.

The service would cost $19.95 per household per month and include a self-install kit for no extra charge, added Shah. MetroFi currently has a similar program in Santa Clara where users are charged the same fee.

The company's goal is to provide wireless access, known as Wi-Fi, to residences specifically, said Shah.

"We're not a hot-zone company where we [wire] entire cities," he said. "We're trying to get as many residents as possible access to our network."

Shah would not say how many customers MetroFi currently has in Santa Clara nor how wide its coverage in Mountain View would be. The company is likely to be interested in a five-year contract with options to renew, said Lazarus.

If MetroFi does ink a deal with the city, it would be the second time Mountain View residents would have widespread wireless Internet access. According to Lazarus, Metricom provided a similar but slower Internet connection to the city recently, but the company went out of business.

Whereas Metricom's speed was like that of dial-up service, "Wi-Fi is similar to residential DSL," said Peter Skinner, the city's senior administrative analyst.

Residents and others who visit Mountain View appreciate the convenience and speed of wireless Internet service.

"It's fairly popular," said Nick Chaput, owner of the Dana Street Roasting Company, which offers Wi-Fi to its patrons for free. "It's not an all-day thing. Probably 100 different people use it a week."

Chaput was intrigued by the idea that the entire city, or at least the residential portions, would become wired.

"I can't believe Mountain View hasn't (become wired) already. I think that might bring more people downtown." @email:E-mail Candice Shih at cshih@mv-voice.com

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