According to a report over at GigaOM, the odds may be stacked up against the Google-EarthLink joint venture, which plans to build a muniWiFi network in San Francisco. Despite most pundits assuming it was a done deal, one final vote still determines whether or not the JV gets dumped and the city goes back to square one. According to the report, the votes are tight: Out of the 11 Board of Supervisors, 4 or 5 are for the plan, 3 are against the plan and 3 or 4 are on the table. Well, that's anybody's guess, then.
The Google-EarthLink JV is about to launch an aggressive PR campaign in San Francisco to rally the citizens in favor of the network's speedy rollout. Since Google has agreed to lease enough SF office space for more than 800 workers, it may soon have enough marketing foot soldiers and "concerned citizens" to close this deal after all.
For more on the vote:
- see this post over at GigaOM