What a Mesh!

5:25 PM -- Howdy, Broadbanders!

It might be a trifle premature to talk about the death of the municipal WiFi mesh market, but there sure are signs of a mighty wind sweeping through the startups in this niche now.

Unstrung has heard talk of layoffs at SkyPilot Networks Inc. and other places – expect more news soon. Meanwhile, plenty of people are moving around behind the scenes; witness the departure of Nan Chen from Strix recently.

We have to wonder how many of the mesh startups will remain in existence next year. Particularly as the future of some of the big municipal projects – particularly San Francisco – look shakier than before, which could make it harder to get funding for the mesh contenders.

So, while we keep a weather eye on the mesh shakeout, let's check the rest of the week's news.

My brand on you
Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) and Clearwire LLC (Nasdaq: CLWR) WiMax service to be branded XOHM? Don't fancy that much.

Going mobile
Towerstream Corp. (Nasdaq: TWER) could be next to offer mobile WiMax in the U.S.

The island
Even if the future of muni mesh looks less than golden there's still money out there for large-scale public WiFi projects. (See E-Path Goes to Long Island.)

Meraki grows
And this WiFi startup is putting up more mesh in San Fran regardless.

Until next time,

— Fetch My Staff and My Cattle, Unstrung