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Chicago Cancels Municipal Wi-Fi Plan

Posted by Zonk on from the wave-goodbye-to-the-broadbands dept.

thatshortkid writes "The Chicago Tribune is reporting that a proposed plan for municipal wi-fi in Chicago has fallen apart. The story cites contract disputes and the falling price of residential broadband as reasons for the talks collapsing. 'Chicago officials had intended that the city would offer infrastructure, but no cash, to a carrier that would use its own funds to build the network here. EarthLink and AT&T Inc. submitted proposals to the city, but after months of negotiations the parties were unable to reach agreement. The companies sought a commitment from Chicago to be an "anchor tenant," agreeing to pay to use the Wi-Fi network to support city services, but the city declined ... Even if Chicago declines to back a municipal wireless network, city residents soon will gain more Internet connection options. Sprint Nextel Corp. is building a wireless WiMax network here that is due to offer service next spring.'"

6 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. For the best. by Patrick+Cosmos · · Score: 4, Funny
    Chicago has a systematic inability to manage anything under its control, from the transit system to the hospitals. Everything is out of money and the whole state just devolves into an endlessly looping state diagram of FIGHT --> SHAM RESOLUTION --> FIGHT.

    If Chicago managed a WiFi infrastructure, it would manage to cost the taxpayers $400B and give everybody cancer within a week or two, and even then the aldermen would find a way to stick up for it so long as Daley approved.

    1. Re:For the best. by tompaulco · · Score: 2, Funny

      Right on. Someone should raid his mansion in the middle of the night with a backhoe and carve out huge Xs in his driveway.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
  2. yeah... by intthis · · Score: 2, Funny

    i guess it was safe to assume that the wi-fi system wouldn't work... mainly because they had been putting up signs saying it was coming for the last year...

    in a similar vein, i believe they've been putting up signs for the last 2 years proclaiming that we have, in fact, won the 2016 olympics... which clearly isn't going to happen either...

    i guess the moral is, don't trust signs in chicago... i mean everyone has already learned to ignore the traffic ones... how hard could it be?

    --
    now is the winter of our discotheque
  3. Chicago politics fail again? I'm shocked! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Next election I'm using all my votes to throw the current officials out.

  4. It's nothing personal--only business. by RoaldFalcon · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is the start of the Wi-Fi turf wars. Earthlink is going to host hotspots inside AT&T's territory. "They can't muscle their way in here. Everyone knows that we own the south side." Disputes will be settled with tommy guns. There'll be secret meetings with the leaders of the five telecoms. That's Chicago for you.

  5. Re:It's Like Water by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'm pretty sure it's through a series of tubes.