Mika, while I think that the value proposition offered by Bluetooth/WLAN setups for the proverbial "hotspots" within a given city is compelling, I'm highly skeptical of the concept of using the technology as a full-fledged 3G replacement within major metro areas. It all comes down to basic math. A Bluetooth chipset, possessing a range of 10 meters, has a coverage area of roughly 314 sq. meters. A sizable metro area, meanwhile, can easily take up over 100 million sq. meters (100 sq. km). Even if only 10% of this space were to be covered, over 30,000 "base stations" would still be needed; and even then, it's inevitable that there would be plenty of areas where subscribers would end up wanting access to broadband wireless connections, only to find out that GPRS is all that's available. Given the far higher levels of reliability and convenience, I find it unlikely that any subscriber that's serious about accessing multimedia services will be satisfied, especially if many of these subscribers end up being interested in using such services within homes, apartment complexes, and office buildings.
Also, other considerations would have to be kept in mind. Resolving the "right of way" issues related to building such a network would naturally be far more complicated. Meanwhile, network planning would also prove to be more time-consuming and difficult. Lastly, although the equipment costs related to building and maintaining the network might be lower, the labor costs would most likely be far higher. Of course, if it takes longer than expected for W-CDMA handsets to sell at mass-market-friendly price tags, then perhaps all of this could end up being irrelevant. However, given all of these shortcomings, a Bluetooth/WLAN setup does seem to be, IMO, a less-than-elegant solution for providing 3G-caliber wireless services over an entire, large-scale metro area.
Eric
PS - (OT) John, although I've never been to Sweden, I have been to several other Western European nations, as well as Canada; and I can say without a doubt that Americans, as a whole, are, by far, the most obese nationality group that I know of. Thus, while I can't personally vouch for the validity of Lars' comment regarding Swedish women, I don't doubt it either. Furthermore, given that the South did fail in its attempt to secede from the Union, the education comment's probably true as well. |
