There's Wi-Fi gold
in them thar hills

Google and Earthlink are on the verge of making their planned partnership to bring a wireless internet network to San Francisco a reality.

Both Google and Earthlink have agreed on contract terms for the Wi-Fi network, clearing one of the final hurdles to the adoption of the San Franciso network, MarketWatch reports. The city's board of supervisors must also approve the deal before construction on the network can begin. Sources say that approval could come as early as this week.

The network would have two offerings, a free ad-based version and a commercial-free version of the service that would be slightly faster but reportedly cost $20 or so a month.

Earthlink would benefit by expanding its customer base, and Google would profit from placing ads on the free version of the service.