Metro Round-Up: Aurora (Ill.), Bay Area (Calif.), Santa Fe Says Yes-Fi

As networks go dark, so, too, do governmental network advocates: I haven’t tracked the political fortunes of elected and appointed officials who pinned their star to Wi-Fi’s glow, but I have to imagine both those that have suffered removal from office or who have remained in position are infinitely less likely to push plans in the near future that have any parallels with the plans that stalled.

Aurora, Ill., joins MetroFi cities turning down gear deal: Aurora, the city of light, the first electrified streetlit city in the U.S., opts to not buy the MetroFi gear. Along with all of MetroFi’s other networks (excluding Riverside, Calif., operated with AT&T), June 20 will likely be the last day of service. About 160 of 600 to 900 nodes were installed in Aurora.

San Francisco paper wraps up MetroFi’s shutdowns in their area: Ryan Kim writes in the SF Chronicle about the many networks being shut down by MetroFi around the bay. Santa Clara and San Jose are still looking at MetroFi’s equipment offer. Neither city has complete coverage; Santa Clara is focused on some residential portions, and San Jose has some downtown service. Kim brings up the spectre of twice or three times dead Ricochet.

Santa Fe bypasses Wi-Fi health concerns: The city council voted unanimously to approve Wi-Fi service in libraries and city-owned buildings. This odd paragraph appears in the AP story: “Julie Tambourine, an advocate for the disabled and homeless, said after Wednesday’s meeting that the legal analysis was flawed, because it didn’t take into account those with diabetes, seizure disorders, respiratory ailments and other conditions that can be adversely affected by microwave radiation.” It’s unfortunate the writer didn’t get a medical research in any of those areas to discuss that. I have never heard the strongest advocates of the view that EMF causes health issues mention any of those conditions.

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