On Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 12:42 PM, Rick Lindahl<[email protected]> wrote:
> This is interesting because even Clear can't "guaranty" 100% coverage at > the minimum 4mbps download speeds but, where there is adequate signal, they > do - currently - offer a higher speed service than anyone else. The UnWire > Portland / MetroFi proposal was meant to give this kind of coverage but many > of us thought the business model was flawed as well as the coverage > promised, which ultimately turned out to be true. That's my concern as well. I inquired about what guarantees they had, and the reply was basically "we have determined it is capable of those speeds," but I wasn't told there would be an SLA or anything that actually protects the City if it fails to perform in the future (whether due to spotty coverage or oversubscription). > It would be interesting to hear the logic behind the decision and how > testing was performed. But, given the current condition of city-wide > wireless data service, I can understand their standpoint. I didn't notice a > time frame for the contract but I would hope they would keep their options > open for the faster, future EvDO, HSPA, etc., services that will be coming. I'm very curious as well, especially about the video conference needs in the field. I somewhat suspect that the justification was written to such that Clearwire would be the only choice, rather than representing their needs. I think the innocent case might be made that Clearwire was the best choice pricewise, even if you were looking for speeds that other providers could have offered, and that by creating requirements that only Clearwire could meet, you avoid the hassle of going through the bidding process when you already have a clear (no pun) winner. I would actually feel better believing this is a subverting of an in-this-case-extraneous bit of process, than to think that the city expects to regularly receive the top speed offered on a consumer level ISP plan. -- Michael Weinberg President Personal Telco Project, Inc. A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ The Personal Telco Project - http://www.personaltelco.net/ Donate to PTP: http://www.personaltelco.net/donate Archives: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.network.wireless.portland.general/ Etiquette: http://www.personaltelco.net/index.cgi/MailingListEtiquette List information: http://lists.personaltelco.net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
