I wasn’t able to make the Common Council Committee meeting yesterday where this was discussed, but it looks like the deal between Milwaukee and Midwest Fiber Networks to provide with “free” wireless connectivity has been dealt a serious blow.
Two weeks after the company was contractually obligated to have the “test area” network up and running, and a week after I personally was unable to find a wireless signal on that “test area”, the company now seems to be laying the foundation for backing out as it admits it won’t be able to complete the entire network for two more years and it “may not be financially viable” anyways.
Those aren’t the kind of signals you like to hear if you’re in favor of the city-wide wireless initiative. The Common Council now faces a tough decision of whether to continue to follow Midwest Fiber Networks as they try to distance themselves from any sort of legal or moral responsibility, or to cut off a bad relationship now and move forward with this project the way it should have been done from day one.
Either way, it’s bad news for the Milwaukee Wireless Initiative and for residents like myself who were really looking forward to this project’s completion.
I live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI with my wife Jen, our daughter Emerson, and sons Carter and Colton.
