The city of Portland, Oregon announced Wednesday that Mountain View, Calif., based MetroFi had been awarded a contract to build a public Wi-Fi network in the city. The startup beat out two competitors, including EarthLink.

The Portland contract will mark the first time that EarthLink has lost a bid to build a municipal wireless network.

EarthLink has already won contracts to build networks in Philadelphia, Anaheim, and Milpitas, Calif., a San Francisco suburb. Additionally, it has teamed up with Google in San Francisco to build a network there, and is assisting the city of New Orleans in keeping its Wi-Fi network running.

Portland officials said that of the three proposals, MetroFi "excelled" in its operational experience and demonstrated the greatest public benefit. The company, founded in 2002, already runs an ad-supported network in Sunnyvale, Calif., and subscriber networks in Cupertino and Santa Clara, Calif.

MetroFi recently won a contract for to build a Wi-Fi network in Aurora, Ill. as well.

"We are proud to partner with MetroFi in this effort to bring ubiquitous wireless Internet access to the city of Portland," said Portland Mayor Tom Potter. "I am eager to see the technology employed to help streamline city services and enhance public safety communications."

Both a free and subscriber-based offering would be provided to residents. The free service will be supported by the sale of advertising. The network would be composed of both Wi-Fi and pre-WiMAX technologies, MetroFi said.

Construction of the network is expected to begin shortly, with testing scheduled for the summer. Initially, downtown and the inner eastside would be first to receive the wireless service, with full city coverage by 2008.