A letter written by Clearwire acquired by SF Weekly confirms that the delays in launching WiMax service until recently had more to do with the requirements of the Planning Commission than any technical or financial issues faced by the internet service provider.
At issue were the requirements for zoning cellsites and approvals for various permits necessary to deploy equipment and service, with the Commission using the concerns of the aesthetic appearance of cellsites throughout the city and the safety/quake readiness of transmission equipment should a quake strike near such sites, which lead to the commission filing an appeal before final approval centering on the installation of equipment in the neighborhood of Bernal Heights. The process from the beginning of initial planning for service deployment to the current soft availability of service took a total of eight months.
It’s San Francisco. This shouldn’t come as a shock unfortunately…
Why bother? If the people there really want it, let them petition the city for it.
The will of the people and the bureaucracy of San Francisco are two very different things, Jeff. Try living there for awhile and you’ll understand.
I have used this service in the past and it is far inferior to other mobile service providers. Just look at the reviews and blogs online. What is happening in San Francisco is also happening in the City of Omaha, NE with Clearwire. The City of Omaha denied Clearwire permits to setup towers within city limits due to the unstable and reliability issues with the company.
[…] 4G WiMax broadband service to the city of San Francisco and surrounding cities. This also follows months of beauracratic wrangling with the San Francisco Planning […]