Wi-Fi Coming to San Francisco; Google Bids

-- Library Journal, 10/11/2005

Tech-savvy San Francisco is among several cities weighing the prospect of free municipal wireless Internet access, or Wi-Fi, and the search behemoth Google Inc.—which has quickly branched out into new businesses—has placed a bid. The city received more than a dozen bids, reported the San Francisco Chronicle, and is expected to decide on a provider within weeks. Free basic service would be 300KB/second, which is five times faster than typical dialup, but slower than some broadband service. The proposal, according to the Chronicle, has led to speculation about whether Google intends to create a free national Wi-Fi network. Google officials said they had not determined whether to include ads in the proposed service.