Nearly a year of anticipation culminated in San Francisco’s recent announcement that the city reached an agreement with EarthLink and Google to
construct and operate a citywide wireless network. The companies were chosen over five other bidders.

“This agreement to bring free universal wireless to San Francisco is a critical step in bridging the digital divide that separates too many communities from the enormous benefits of technology,” said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, in a statement. “Ubiquitous Wi-Fi will change how residents access education, social services, and economic opportunities.”

The network will provide a free, 300Kbps service, as well as a 1Mbps service that costs $21.95 per month. According to reports, EarthLink will pay more than $1 million to the city over the four-year contract, including payments for the city’s right of way, the ability to use light poles for wireless equipment, and revenue generated by wireless subscriptions.

Although the network is expected to be completed in less than a year, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that there’s no indication of when the network will actually be active. The publication also reported that some city supervisors have complained that residents might have benefited more from a publicly owned Wi-Fi network, and that the city isn’t charging Google and EarthLink nearly enough for the right to build and operate the network.

Further, even after the city’s announcement, Earth Link officials expressed concern that the company might not receive enough votes from the city’s Board of Supervisors to approve the deal. According to reports, the supervisors who could vote against the deal would do so in hopes that the city would build its own network, a notion considered feasible in a recent report from the city’s budget analyst office.