Earthlink Backs Out Of San Francisco Wi-Fi Project

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Today Earthlink announced that they are pulling out of a deal with Google to provide free wireless internet to residents and visitors in San Francisco, California.

Earthlink Chief Executive Rolla Huff told Mayor Gavin Newsom during a telephone call “they were not going to be able to fulfill their end of the bargain,” said Nathan Ballard, Newsom’s spokesman. “Mr. Huff made it clear it wasn’t going to happen with Earthlink; they are getting out of the Wi-Fi business.”

Huff delivered the news Wednesday, a day after he announced that the Atlanta-based Internet service provider planned to cut costs by eliminating 900 jobs, about half its work force, and closing its offices in four cities, including San Francisco.

The four year deal between Google and Earthlink was never finalized. Under the shelved deal, Earthlink was supposed to build and maintain the wireless network at an estimated cost of 14- 17 million dollars. They were hoping to make the deal profitable by offering a Premium service for
a monthly charge of $21.95 that would provide faster connection speeds for those that chose to upgrade. Google was planning on making profits by selling ads to help subsidize the free service.

Google has not yet commented on the news.

Forbes

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to the Sootle RSS feed!.