MetroFi to Blanket Portland, Ore., With Wi-Fi

On Wednesday, Mountain View, Calif.-based MetroFi said it won a contract to provide free and for-charge wireless Internet access to Portland, Oregon’s 540,000 residents, beating out competitor EarthLink, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The news comes just one week after EarthLink and Google announced that they won a contract to blanket San Francisco with Wi-Fi.

People who live in Portland will have the option of using a free, ad-based Wi-Fi service at 1 Mbps for downloading and 256 Kbps for uploading, or a $20-a-month service with the same download speed and no ads, according to the Chronicle. The fee-based service would also provide users with support functions, the Chronicle reports.

MetroFi currently offers Wi-Fi in Sunnyvale, Cupertino and Santa Clara, Calif., and it plans to launch its service in Aurora, Ill., as well as Portland, according to the company’s website.

Chuck Haas, MetroFi’s cofounder and chief executive officer, said, “Portland’s vision of utilizing the MetroFi network for affordable Internet to all its residents is defining how cities partner with the private sector,” according to the Chronicle.

For related CIO content, read Wi-Fight.

For related coverage, read San Fran Selects Google, EarthLink for Wi-Fi and Google, EarthLink Plan Additional Wi-Fi Bid.

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