Wireless weirdness in Sunnyvale Wireless weirdness in Sunnyvale (December 09, 2005)

MV company announces WiFi deal -- to city's surprise

By Jon Wiener

The race to set up the first free citywide wireless network took an odd turn this week, when Mountain View-based MetroFi announced a plan to blanket Sunnyvale with its service, only to see city leaders contradict the story a day later.

On Monday -- a month after Google announced plans to provide all of Mountain View with free wireless service -- MetroFi formally announced a similar deal with the city of Sunnyvale. In that deal, the company would offer free wireless service throughout the residential areas of the city, paid for by banner ads in Web browser windows.

MetroFi CEO Chuck Haas called it "the first free community-wide advertising-sponsored WiFi network" and circulated a press release touting the plan. In an interview with the Voice on Monday, Haas said the announcement is an important step forward for the three-year-old Clyde Avenue company.

There was a hitch, however: The deal is a year old, and only gives the company the right to provide service to about a third of the city.

Sunnyvale communications officer John Pilger said MetroFi's announcement came as a surprise to the city. The contract with MetroFi calls for the company to approach the city a second time with plans to extend the network.

"We would certainly look forward to getting any requests that MetroFi might have to expand the level of service throughout the city," said Pilger.

On Tuesday, Haas said the company had not submitted some particulars -- such as a list of the poles the company would use to extend the network -- but said the gist of the plan was still true.

"It's free WiFi provided in the city of Sunnyvale," he said.

All users would need to access the Sunnyvale network is a computer set up for wireless service. Once logged on, users' Internet browser windows will display a banner ad at all times. MetroFi will continue to offer an ad-free service for $19.95 a month.

Haas said the company had been working on the plan and recruiting advertisers long before Google grabbed national headlines with its Mountain View plan. Though Google said it was building the Mountain View network as an experiment to help the company tailor advertising and search functions to wireless devices, the announcement drew attention to MetroFi's inability to deliver on a similar contract they had signed with the city last year.

Peter Skinner, an analyst with the city's public works department who oversaw the MetroFi contract with Mountain View, said the company's decision not to deploy the planned network led the city to negotiate with Google.

"We knew that [Google's plan] was coming and they were going to provide the city with free access," said Skinner. "We really didn't pursue why MetroFi didn't deploy here."

Both agreements are non-exclusive, though city officials and others believe MetroFi is less likely to deploy a paid service now that it would have to compete with a free one. Haas declined to specify why the company did not get the system up in Mountain View, but said the Sunnyvale agreement proves the company is still going strong.

"I know there were discussions about resources and getting it to work," Haas said about the Mountain View network. "That's obviously not true. It's been business reasons."

Google is finalizing its contract with the city, and is hoping to start putting up some of its wireless access devices on selected light poles as soon as next week, according to city economic development manager Ellis Berns.

In Sunnyvale, MetroFi plans to use the same "mesh" technology as Google. Unlike the Google network, MetroFi will not track users' personal information, Haas said.

Google representatives did not return a phone call seeking comment.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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