Google does search. Earthlink is an ISP. They’re joining together in their proposal for both free and paid Wi-Fi for San Francisco residents. This move is likely to build the credibility of a movement by cities to promote Wi-Fi services.

They should build Wi-Fi for Los Angeles and for Walnut, the two cities I work and live in. I would do it myself, if I had permission from the city and from my ISP. After all, special antennae allow for a signal radius of miles.

The two-tiered business model proposed by Earthlink and Google creates two networks: a slower free service provided by Google, and a paid service for higher speeds, provided by Earthlink. I don’t see exactly why the two networks need to be separated like this. Save money and build a reputation by offering it under the Google-Earthlink name. If the Earthlink service isn’t worth the money, why not blame Google too?

If the Google service is too slow, why not blame Earthlink?

Apparently, the network may cost up to $18 million to build in order to cover San Francisco’s 49 square miles. Why so much? 802.11a/b/g routers are cheap these days. Get the right equipment and set it up properly, and the hardware cost� is probably no more than $1 million. I guess the rest is required for labor, setup/installation, maintenance… and rightfully so. It’s not an easy job to do it properly.

Google and Earthlink aren’t necessarily getting the contract. IBM and Hewlett-Packard, among others, have also submitted proposals. I choose Google’s.

Telcos, understandably, are fighting the plans. But instead of stifling technology, why not compete in it yourself? Verizon has participated in defeating Philadelphia’s muni Wi-Fi plans because it views the technology as a potential threat to DSL service. Which it is, because I probably wouldn’t pay for Internet when it was in the air for free.

The mayor of SF said that cable companies made promises about providing access that they haven’t kept. Skeptics say public companies would do a bad job at managing a large-scale technology projects, and that the networks will cost substantially more than the companies plan. But it’s worth it.

Image by redherring. prism