Portland’s high-cost of “free” Wi-Fi

The Northwest Nonsense:

Free, Free, Free”¦.Step right up folks”¦its More free stuff from Government. Listen”¦anytime folks like Tom Potter and Eric Sten offer something “free””¦remember, it’s not true. These snake oil salesmen have cut a deal that’s good for city hall and bad for consumers. The “free” deal means city hall will pay 16-million bucks of your tax money to Metro Fi incorporated.

In exchange”¦Metro Fi will spend ten million building a network. Let’s do the math on that. Then remember that city hall has put you at the mercy of the advertisements Metro Fi will sell to make even more money. Or you can pony up 20 bucks a month for service without the ads”¦but service that even the city admits will be slower than the what cable and DSL already offer.

What’s the likelihood of a competing service being offered when metro fi is already giving it away “free”? don’t hold your breath. And part of the use will be to service those crazy solar powered parking meters”¦just think about your credit card info floating around cyberspace on a wifi signal. Summing it up”¦16 million in taxpayer funds to buy “free” wifi that’s slower than what you already have”¦and likely to eliminate marketplace competition that always pushes better service at a lower cost.

Lars Larson is Oregon’s own omnipresent radio host who can be heard around teh nation and on the web at www.larslarson.com.