The city's manager in charge of processing bids to build a wireless network within Portland said a final decision could be made by mid-January 2006.
On Monday, Portland received six bids, including two area wireless Internet service providers, to build and oversee the Unwire Portland system. The network would serve both city departments and residents who own computers with wireless Internet capabilities.
Qwest Communications International, the Denver-based telecomm provider, opted at the last minute to sit out the bidding process.
Participating providers include:
Earthlink, of Atlanta
MobilePro Corp., of Bethesda, Md.
MetroFi Inc., of Mountain View, Calif.
U.S. Internet Corp., of Minneapolis
VeriLan Inc., of Portland; and
Winfield Wireless, of Vancouver.
Rashid Ahmed, the Portland Development Commission's senior project coordinator, said he's not seen any monetary projections by participating companies. The Oregonian newspaper reported that three of the bidders said they could provide the services at around $20 a month.
Ahmed said three finalists will be selected by early December and a winner will emerge sometime in January.
"I'm excited. At least six companies think this is an attractive opportunity that we put on the table," he said. "We're looking forward to a competitive process where we can select the best proposal, as opposed to using whatever we happened to get."
The project is a collaboration of the city of Portland, Portland Public Schools and TriMet.
A private owner will install and manage the network, which would include wireless equipment that sits on streetlamps, school buildings and radio towers.
http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/high_tech/internet/2005/10/31/portland_daily11.html
On Monday, Portland received six bids, including two area wireless Internet service providers, to build and oversee the Unwire Portland system. The network would serve both city departments and residents who own computers with wireless Internet capabilities.
Qwest Communications International, the Denver-based telecomm provider, opted at the last minute to sit out the bidding process.
Participating providers include:
Earthlink, of Atlanta
MobilePro Corp., of Bethesda, Md.
MetroFi Inc., of Mountain View, Calif.
U.S. Internet Corp., of Minneapolis
VeriLan Inc., of Portland; and
Winfield Wireless, of Vancouver.
Rashid Ahmed, the Portland Development Commission's senior project coordinator, said he's not seen any monetary projections by participating companies. The Oregonian newspaper reported that three of the bidders said they could provide the services at around $20 a month.
Ahmed said three finalists will be selected by early December and a winner will emerge sometime in January.
"I'm excited. At least six companies think this is an attractive opportunity that we put on the table," he said. "We're looking forward to a competitive process where we can select the best proposal, as opposed to using whatever we happened to get."
The project is a collaboration of the city of Portland, Portland Public Schools and TriMet.
A private owner will install and manage the network, which would include wireless equipment that sits on streetlamps, school buildings and radio towers.
http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/high_tech/internet/2005/10/31/portland_daily11.html
