Oregon Public Broadcasting

Portland's experiment with a citywide WiFi network is ending.

MetroFi, the company that set up the the network, has announced it's closing out service at the end of the month.   

MetroFi hoped to sell enough ads to support a free network, with some a la carte services available for paying customers. It ran into financial trouble -- including lackluster ad sales.

Logan Kleier managed the Unwire Portland project.

Logan Kleier: "I think the city learned about how different business models work or don't work in this case, particularly the ad-supported model. This project was not a question of whether there was risk. The question is always how the city manages that risk."

The city believes a few thousand people are still using the network each month . Kleier says he's not aware of any plans to set up another free system.

A non-profit called the Personal Telco Project is trying to foster a voluntary wi-fi network, by getting citizens and businesses to share their wi-fi access with  others. 

Some other cities, like Hermiston, have set up wi-fi clouds on different economic models. Hermiston's is going strong.