MetroFi Has Me Worried

Posted by: kmikeym | From: December 5, 2006

I have not attended many press conferences in my life, and as boring as they managed to make this announcement, I still sort of enjoyed it as a spectacle of futility*. How can so many people be involved in such a big project and everyone be so boring? I suspect this is just the nature of a press conference, but if you're having an event for the press you should be putting on a good show! (Perhaps I am spoiled from seeing Steve Jobs onstage reveal Apple products.)

You know how after you beat a video game you sit and watch all the credits, hoping for a secret scene at the end? It's such a let down when they don't reward you for your patience, and this event was the same thing, No Payoff! Except, later, when I was looking at their website, I found this amazing easter egg.

Also, this is from their terms of service: We have the right to monitor, intercept and disclose any transmissions over or using our facilities. And don't even think about Sending email with charity requests, petitions for signatures, or any chain mail related materials.

My healthy skepticism is a little more healthy now. I don't trust MetroFi. They feel like a company (logo, website design, heavy VC investment) that isn't going to be around for very long. Their CEO has a background in sales, business development, marketing, and "wholesale distribution channels". Their entire management team is former Covad employees and their Board of Directors is ex-Covad people and VC people. They feel like they are waiting to be bought out. They have banner-ads on their company website. The website looks cheap and provides little useful information.

*The futility of the press conference, not the project.

I sent the following questions to a general email address at MetroFi at 5:26pm after the press conference. I got a response at 6:50pm from their CEO, Chuck Haas. I am impressed.

1. How many people can be connected to one node at a time?
We had some problems during the ceremony connecting, but afterwards as we passed through Pioneer Square, everything worked fine.

We design the network to have no more than 30 simultaneous users at a time, the limit is 64. Special events and public spaces like Pioneer Courthouse Square presents unique challenges that are not found in 99% of Portland where there are only about 125 homes per access point.

2. How many people work for MetroFi in the Portland area?
We spoke with two separate people who were working on the project that were not MetroFi employees, but sub-contractors(?). It seemed a little odd that the technical person we spoke to did not have a MetroFi email address.

We have 3 full time MetroFi employees in Portland. What technical person did you talk with? We also have great subcontractors like O'Neil Electric (the bucket truck operator).

3. The press release states that the eventual result will be free wifi access to 95 percent of the city's indoor and outdoor spaces and that this will be completed by mid-2008. Is this 95 percent of Portland's city limits? Really!??!

Really. This is where light poles exist, so we are not covering the forests or uninhabited areas. Some people will need to purchase a high-performance wireless modem like you saw today.

4. Wouldn't the roll-out be faster if there were more people working on installing the nodes?

No. Portland will roll out more rapidly than any other large municipal deployment in the country. Can't make a baby in less than 9 months.

Wow. I sort of didn't expect answers at all, much less from the CEO. This certainly makes me feel a little better. Dan Saltzman said that going with MetroFi was a calculated risk, because MetroFi was the underdog of the bids. This is their chance to show off that they can do something bigger, so it seems like they taking it very seriously. I respect that.

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