Well, this was a great idea that just didn’t pan out. Arinc Inc. had been commissioned by the city of St. Louis to build a citywide WiFi network using solar panels for power. This is an out of the box idea that could have worked out. But it did not. The company will pay the city $1.05 million in a settlement. The company was found in default of its contract.
While the company will go about removing their solar panels and radios, which hang from 490 poles around the city, the city will retain the eight miles of fiber-optic cable. That’s always good for infrastructure. In fact, the city might see some benefit from this failed deal if they can properly utilize the fiber.
So what went wrong here? It’s not the entire reason, but part of it has to be that Arinc was the low bidder. I understand the economy behind lowest bid. It just goes back to that old saying, though: You get what you pay for.
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