City-wide WiFi for Portland as early as 2006

The Oregonian has the details:

Portland city commissioners backed plans for a citywide wireless Internet system, voting unanimously Wednesday to seek a contractor to build and run the network.

The proposed system would be privately owned and funded, but the city would pledge to be a major customer to help make the network profitable. Commissioners voted, 4-0, to solicit bids for the project, estimated to cost $10 million to $25 million.

Still, it wouldn't truly be a smart, progressive idea if the Republican congress wasn't trying to block it at the behest of its corporate partners. The Willamette Week adds this scenic detail:

Congress is considering a bill introduced last month that would ban city-owned wireless networks designed to help poor people get access to crucial online information. So far, Portland's plans face no pushback, though, as wi-fi activist Nigel Ballard noted after last week's council vote, "There were lots of well-dressed people sitting in the back of the room, taking notes."

For more on the push by well-dressed broadband providers to block locally owned WiFi, check this post.