PALO ALTO, Calif. -(Dow Jones)- Google Inc. (GOOG) would support basic free municipal Internet access in San Francisco with advertising, and may offer a paid higher speed tier of services to residents for a fee, according to a proposal for the project.
Meanwhile, Earthlink Inc. (ELNK) will partner with Motorola Inc. (MOT) and Tropos Networks to provide a paid wireless access similar to the service it has agreed to provide for Philadelphia, according to a proposal it submitted. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's office made documents from more than two dozen companies bidding for the city's highly coveted wireless business available Monday. Among the bidders are Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), a finalist in Philadelphia, and Cingular Wireless.
In its bid, Google said it would offer free municipal wireless access - using WiFi technology - at 300 Kpbs, or about times the speed of dial-up.
Among the paid, or premium, services the company suggests is a higher speed connection that Google may sell to consumers and permit other companies to sell as well, according to the proposal submitted by the Mountain View, Calif. Internet giant.
The company said it expected to sell local advertising and enable local businesses to target ads to specific geographical locations within a few block radius.
"We would expect to reach out to these small businesses in the city and educate them on the benefits of advertising their products or services to the local community online," the company said.
Earthlink's fee would be less than $20 a month with a discounted program for low-income residents. The Atlanta company also would offer free service in some public places and would give a share of its revenue to the city for use in closing the digital divide between wealthy and poor residents.
In the past, Earthlink has argued that free service doesn't work over the long term because of the costs of maintaining and improving networks.
Two separate documents from SBC Communications Inc. (SBC), which did not bid for the contract, complained about the project and insisted citizens would be adequately served without a municipal effort.
The city should spend its resources on something else as the company is already blanketing the metropolis with wireless and other services, the letter stated.
"We are already well on our way to helping the City and County of San Francisco attain its vision of a reasonably priced, high-speed communication network," said Mark Phigler, senior account manager.
In the Google proposal, there was a suggestion the search-engine leader might look beyond northern California for other projects. Google appreciates the opportunity to "set a global example for the ease, importance and effectiveness of universal online accessibility," the company said.
