Google Free WiFi Put At Risk Over SF Politics

Last night I engaged in a little grassroot's journalism and attended a meeting where Chris Sacca, Google's Director of special inititives, talked about some of the challenges that they are facing over getting approval by the SF board of supervisors to install free wifi to the city. Before attending the event, I had heard that the local political scene was tough, but after witnessing the beating that Sacca took I was shocked that there was so much opposition to the idea of letting Google and EarthLink team up to provide free internet access to the entire city. While Google stopped short of saying that they would pull out of the deal, many of the demands presented by the citizens were certainly unrealistic and uncalled for considering that Google and EarthLink are doing this on their own dime. Hopefully, the local board of Supervisors will consider the benefits of free WiFi to their citizens and back down, but if last night's meeting was any indication as to how progress is going, Google's free WiFi plans may end up being very much at risk over politics despite the obvious benefits to their residents.