Microsoft, MetroFi Team on Portland, Ore., Wi-Fi

Microsoft, the world’s leading producer of software, on Wednesday announced a new partnership with MetroFi, a provider of community Internet services, to offer its MSN content and services to users of MetroFi’s upcoming, ad-supported Wi-Fi network in Portland, Ore., according to a Nov. 15 press release posted on Yahoo Finance.

The firms will also employ Microsoft’s adCenter platform to help advertisers reach their desired audiences via the Wi-Fi network.

The free Web service is expected to be available within the Pioneer Courthouse Square area of Portland by the end of 2006, though the release did not specify when it will be available to residents outside of that area. The final network is expected to blanket 95 percent of the city, and Portland is currently home to some half a million residents, according to the release.

“MetroFi’s free Wi-Fi platform is creating an exciting new Internet access ecosystem that is more inclusive, ubiquitous and flexible for both consumers and advertisers,” said Sam Klepper, general manager in the MSN Media Network Group at Microsoft, in the release. “With this Portland pilot we will deliver MSN services that help connect customers to the people and information they care about, breaking down connectivity barriers for our collective customers.”

MetroFi will operate the Portland Wi-Fi network, and it will be built based on existing networks it already constructed in additional California locales like Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and San Jose, among others, according to the release.

“Microsoft’s support of the Portland network further reinforces the validity of advertising-supported municipal Wi-Fi,” said Chuck Haas, CEO and cofounder of MetroFi, in the release.

Mountain View, Calif.-based MetroFi said in April that it had won a contract to provide a free, ad-supported Wi-Fi network for Portland.

Related Links:

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

• Wi-Fight (CIO editorial feature)

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