Internet search giant Google has offered to bring free wireless Internet, or WiFi, connections to Mountain View, the city of its corporate headquarters.
The offer comes about two months after the company offered to do the same for the city of San Francisco.
This proposal is in the same spirit of making the world’s information easily and quickly accessible as our recent San Francisco WiFi bid and is technically comparable to that initiative, Google said in a statement.
Google’s proposal to "unwire the city" will be considered by the Mountain View city council, according to Ellis Berns, manager of economic development in the town where Google has its headquarters.
Right now, we cannot see a downside, Mr. Berns said. It seems like a pretty positive deal for the city.
Google officials approached Mountain View leaders a few weeks ago and offered to hoist 300 transmitters onto the city’s 3,000 telephone poles and street lights, according to Mountain View Mayor Matt Neely. Neely said the company could install what he described as softball-sized devices that would transform the whole city into a so-called hotspot.
It is pretty amazing — Neely said. What better place than Google’s hometown and what better place than Mountain View to have the whole city connected on WiFi?
Mr. Berns said his staff studied Google’s offer and will recommend it be accepted by city council members. If the deal is accepted, Google will turn all of Mountain View into an Internet "hot spot" by June 2006, Mr. Ellis said.
Providing free Wi-Fi access in Mountain View is one way Google can support the citizens and businesses in the community where we are headquartered, said Chris Sacca of Google’s new business development unit.
Google’s offer to Mountain View is in exchange for a five-year renewable lease permitting the company to mount its equipment on utility poles in the city, Berns said.
It is kind of a test for Google, Berns said. It gives them a chance to check it out, test the market, and it gives the city free wireless.
Under the terms of the deal, the basic wireless internet access would be free, but Google could charge users fees for premium services. For its part, Mountain View can make similar deals with other companies interested in providing wireless services.
If Google decides to stop providing the service, the contract gives Mountain View the option of buying the system and running it themselves, Mr. Berns said.
Mountain View, a mid-Peninsula city of 12 square miles and about 72,000 residents, is also home to the NASA/Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, where Google is building a research complex. There, it will collaborate with the space agency scientists.
The city also houses an array of technology companies, including VeriSign and Veritas and a Microsoft computer campus, according to Mr. Berns.
If Google’s proposal for Mountain View mirrors its suggestions for San Francisco, it could likely entail installation of a network of transmitters that would parlay data, via invisible radio waves, back and forth between people’s computers and the Internet. Mr. Sacca indirectly denied online rumors that the company is interested in building a nationwide wireless Internet network.
Google has no plans at this time to expand our Wi-Fi efforts beyond the Bay Area, he said.
Mountain View is expected to make the Google proposal public in advance of the city councils’ meeting where it will be discussed. Unlike in San Francisco, Mountain View city leaders have not launched a formal call for companies to compete to bring affordable wireless Internet connections to the city.
Mountain View City Councilman Greg Perry said that he applauded the possibility of offering residents wireless services.
Someone offering for free to put WiFi across the city!! Why would not I think it is a good idea?
It is great to see a local company providing quality Internet connections for people in Mountain View Mr. Perry said.