Fergie's Tech Blog

Google’s Tangled Wireless Push

Chris Sacca, Google’s municipal Wi-Fi champion, has been spending a lot of time outside the comforts of the geeky Googleplex recently negotiating the often-frustrating world of city politics. And it hasn’t always gone smoothly.

For example, at a public meeting in Google’s hometown of Mountain View, California, an angry elderly gentleman took a swing at Mr. Sacca after expressing concerns about the harmful effects of radiation from Wi-Fi hardware.

“When you put a box in someone’s neighborhood, it really changes the game,” Mr. Sacca said after a panel discussion at the Red Herring Spring conference in Monterey, California, on Wednesday. As a result, he said Google has to be very nimble when trying to alter public perception.

But the company has more than just a public relations campaign on its hands. The search giant also has the mighty tasks of building and running wireless networks.

posted by Fergie @ 5/24/2006 05:35:00 PM