Furthermore, the very fact that people are mobile allows them to GO to places where data is AVAILABLE rather than demand that it is brought to where they are.
That effect alone would be enough to blanket most cities.
In comparison with the kind of availability associated with CDMA, it seems to me that WiFi in Starbucks is more of a curiosity than a disruptive force. People ... well, most people anyway ... don't spend their days hanging out in coffee shops. Having a connection available to check out news, stocks, sports, mail or whatever when one pops in for one's morning caffeine, but that isn't where serious data usage happens.
For consumer use of bandwidth ... movie clips, video phone, games, whatever ... I can see this kind of connection being possibly adequate *if* enough establishments of enough different types decide that it is an interesting thing to do. But, I'm still not sure how fast or how far the consumer demand will build.
For business use of bandwidth, it isn't OK to have to go somewhere one had no other reason to be just to get work done. One needs the data where one needs the data. In that context it seems to me that a CDMA wireless solution works, even in Starbucks, whereas a WiFi solution on its own is at best a partial solution. |
