Silicon Valley Network faces another setback

The backers of the ambitious Silicon Valley Network are searching for a new company to build and operate the massive WiFi systems after Azulstar couldn't find any financial backers. Azulstar will now work on specialized applications on the network.

This is only the latest setback for the overly ambitious plan. Not surprisingly, the massive WiFi network planned for California's Silicon Valley [1] is behind schedule. The promised test networks and model agreement for local governments aren't finished. The initiative, backed by a group of cities and private companies called Wireless Silicon Valley Task Force, want to build a sprawling muni-WiFi network that would provide 2.4 million people in a 1,500-sq.-mi. with WiFi coverage. Backers, however, say the initiative is not dead. But in light of the negative publicity surrounding failed muni-WiFi initiatives, including San Francisco [2], the group faces a tough road in negotiations it still faces with some 40 municipalities.

As Glenn Fleishman at Wi-Fi Net News [3] points out, who would step in at this point on an initiative that has no committed municipal partners, not test networks built and no fund raised? "That would be ... a chump."

To find out more about the Silicon Valley Network's latest struggles:
- read this article [4] from InfoWorld

Related articles:
- Silicon Valley WiFi project dragging [5]
- AT&T pulls out of WiFi partnership in Napa [6]