Oregon Public Broadcasting

The mayor of Portland announced Friday, that MetroFi will stop expanding the city’s free wi-fi cloud. But as Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, the company says it intends to keep building the network.

The confusion stems from a meeting last month, in which MetroFi’s chief said the company is committed to building wi-fi clouds in cities that promise to be ‘anchor tenants.’

In other words, it can only afford to keep building the cloud in Portland if the city agrees to pay to use it.

Portland’s Wi-Fi manager, Logan Kleier says the city is sticking to the original plan -- that it doesn’t have to pay for anything.

Logan Kleier: “The city of Portland is committed to maintaining its current no-risk obligation under the contract.”

Private funds to build wi-fi clouds have been shrinking lately -- leaving companies like MetroFi searching for other ways to fund their plans.

MetroFi says it is looking at ways to continue to expand, and it will maintain the current network, which covers about one-fifth of the city.