San Francisco WiFi Deal Close to Approval

San Francisco is trying to join the growing numbers of major U.S. cities that make available free, and relatively low cost Internet access using Wi-Fi, a popular wireless technology. An agreement on contract terms means both sides have overcome a major hurdle after more than nine months of sometime acrimonious negotiations.

But the process is by no means over. Before construction on the network could begin, the contract terms must be approved of by the city's board of supervisors. Also, the sources said while an official announcement could happen as early as this week, they cautioned the negotiations could fall apart on any number of issues.

"We're close, very close," said one of two sources speaking about the pending deal. Another source, familiar with Earthlink's stance, said "this could happen this week." Both were granted anonymity because they were not supposed to be talking publicly about the deal.

Almost immediately, privacy advocates including those from the American Civil Liberties Union raised concerns about Google's involvement, questioning whether that meant the network would be tracking users' whereabouts.

Google acknowledge it was possible to track users, and if done so, it would ostensibly be done as a way to tailor the ads that would appear to mirror a business someone's close to.