Citywide WiFi Update

I've been tracking the City of Houston's efforts to build out a municipal WiFi for the past several months. The process began last April with several companies submitting bids for the very large-scale project. Back in May I hosted a live chat with Mayor White to take questions from the public about the initiative.

The city's Chief Technology Officer, Richard Lewis, has been keeping me updated with the status. He is in a "quiet period" in which he can not discuss many details however he was able to comment to me:

We have commenced definitive negotiations with the two highest rated proposers and are focusing on key deal terms (KDTs), i.e. viability of financial plan for $60 million network, amount of inclusion investments for low-income individuals, households and/or neighborhoods, which includes discounted subscription rates, free or cheap devices and skill development. Other KDTs include rates for government use and "anchor tenant" commitment, deployment plan, etc.

Keep tuned right here as I will post more news as it warrants.