Delray Beach kills WiFi firm contract
By DON JORDAN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
DELRAY BEACH — City commissioners voted Tuesday to terminate a contract with a Tampa company after it failed to move forward on plans to create a citywide WiFi network.
E-Path Communications had until April 18 to set up the free Internet service along Atlantic Avenue in the downtown area, but had not completed any work, according to city officials.
E-Path President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Tortoretti attributed the delays to a plan to replace numerous Florida Power & Light utility poles in the city next year. E-Path intended to connect its equipment to the poles to provide the service and would be forced to do the work a second time, Tortoretti said.
The contract termination means further delays to the goal of providing the WiFi service, initially scheduled to be in place by last year.
Commissioners said they are committed to providing WiFi, but expressed frustration with E-Path's delays.
"This has been an unfortunate waste of staff time," Commissioner Gary Eliopoulos said.
Can someone call the Palmer Administration and let them know that their pet vendor just got the boot in their own backyard?!?!?
A wave from the front stoop to Hiltonia resident Michael McGrath for pointing out this latest turn of events in the E-Path saga
2 comments:
My favorite line of this whole story is, "...but had not completed any work..."
And my favorite word in that line is "ANY."
HOW does that happen? Or NOT happen, as is the case with E-Path. If they can't even lay even the most basic groundwork, or present a timeline or outline or something to their city's government to show what they've been doing, or why they've been held up, then they deserved to get the boot. And they deserve it here in Trenton, too. Officially. If they didn't do ANY work in their hometown, they won't here either. Our lines and poles suck, at least in most places around the city, and as far as we can tell, will never get replaced unless the next tornado touches down here in the hood, and takes some of the infrastructure out, since that's what it took to get a couple of new poles and lines here on the East Side, back in March. E-Path will probably use Verizon or PSE&G or Comcast as an excuse for their delays here as well, if they're not shown the door immediately. Which needs to happen.
Fortunately, a majority of our City Council saw E-Path for the smoke and mirrors that it was.
Too bad our Administration can't admit their choice was a bad one and let it go.
Post a Comment