MuniWireless reports the city of Minneapolis has chosen US Internet, a local ISP (pdf and FAQ), to build out and run its citywide network, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
US Internet would build and operate the roughly $20 million Minneapolis Wi-Fi network and would offer consumers high-speed Internet service for $20 a month. That’s the recommendation the city staff is expected to present today to its Ways and Means Committee. A City Council vote is expected Friday.
The city would pay the company $2.2 million up front and $1.25 million a year so that city facilities and police and fire emergency services could become anchor tenants. Under the proposed deal, the network would blanket 95 percent of outdoor locations and 90 percent of indoor locations. It will take nine to 12 months to build the network.
US Internet hopes to sign up 18 percent of the 168,000 households in Minneapolis within five years.i-Fi network. The city would recoup the cash advance later in the 10-year contract.
The company will donate $500,000, plus a cerrtain percentage of pretax income to the Digital Inclusion Fund.
US Internet has not previously bid to build a citywide Wi-Fi network such as the one planned for Minneapolis.
More than 90 vendors expressed interest, 20 vendors registered for prime contractor status, and nine vendors submitted proposals. Through that process two vendors were identified as finalists.
The losing finalist was EarthLink. EarthLink, of course, is the big Kahuna in municipal wireless, winning Wi-Fi contracts in Philadelphia and San Francisco among other cities.
