rob:
No question WLAN and 3G will co-exist. I see them as complimentary, and IMO the likely outcome will be to expand the overall wireless data market rather than dividing up a pie of finite size. The notion that WLAN will somehow be "free" (or close to free) is for the birds - some carrier of some sort is going to carry the data traffic to/from the WLAN nodes, and they sure aren't going to do it for free.
Another perspective in a WSJ Europe article posted on the mod thread:
Message 17217386
A short snip:
In my own apartment, I have what is known as a "Wi-Fi" wireless network. Thanks to Wi-Fi, I can use my laptop computer online anywhere in my apartment with no wires attached. But I can do this only because the network is plugged into an ADSL modem, which is plugged into a phone jack, which is connected to the phone company, which is hooked up to the Internet. In other words, Wi-Fi doesn't get me on the Internet, but it connects my computer to something that does.
So, as useful as Wi-Fi is for freeing my laptop from wires, it's still dependent on my DSL connection, for which I pay the phone company 40 euros a month. My wireless network is like a cordless phone for the Internet. But Wi-Fi is no more the wireless Internet than a cordless phone is a GSM. For true wireless Internet connectivity, more is needed than the sort of small-scale network I have in my apartment.
So Wi-Fi isn't going to free the Internet from wires. The technology is being used to network Starbucks coffee shops in the U.S. and airport terminals around the world. But the range of Wi-Fi transmitters -- about 100 meters under ideal conditions -- is simply too small to allow the construction of nation- or continent-wide networks.
(My emphasis)
David T.
PS: Apology accepted. I did take your comments personally, if they weren't intended that way, fair enough. I'll stick to your announced modus operandi and refrain from trading insults - they serve no purpose anyway and add nothing to the discussion. |
