As the costs associated with wireless continue to plummet, one can imagine it breaking through the zero line, or even beyond, to the point where establishment owners, even end users, might be compensated through various currencies and means of trade - in short, through alternative business models, for using a vendor's or an operator's wares or platform, respectively. This would defy any form of asymptotic analysis, so it is understandable why many don't see it happening, but in some ways I think that it already has, or it very likely will over the near and/or intermediate terms.
The fly in this ointment, of course, would continue to appear to be, at least, the cost of backhaul, or the potential conflicts that users would experience with main service providers over their terms of service (TOS) agreements, although some are even suggesting that, through various shifts in value propositions that would pit bandwidth against other utilities and advertising, backhaul bandwidth could even take on the appearance of being free, as well, even if it meant using similarly free wireless backhaul paths provided by a plan's sponsor. But let's not get ahead of ourselves at this point, while remembering that, as the saying goes, there really is no such thing as a free lunch, although the costs of an item could become so low, that it would cost more to measure it and to actually charge for it than the time and resources it would require to do so.
In recent months we've seen a rash of gestures to hot spot proprietors, building owners, municipalities and individual end users, alike, coming from the likes of FON (see article below) and several other startups that could conceivably charge users less for the system gear and implementation of a WiFi access point than one would expect to pay for a cellphone battery. Startup Meraki comes to mind in this context, as well. See: tinyurl.com
Some of these proposed paradigms and hardware/software offers I grant you are only half-baked, in my view, but some will survive and go on to flourish, even if only as ancillary, or secondary mobile alternatives to users' main choices of high-speed wireline connectivity. In my view, we're beyond the point of speculation, when it comes to wireless ever becoming free. It's now more a question of how suitable free connectivity will be, given the limitations of speed and other constraints, and whether it will still be seen as a desirable alternative to other offerings, which could either be (also) free or fee-based.
One last thing: I'd like everyone to take note that I've not had to resort to using the "B-word" in all of the above, not even once.
The following article concerning FON was posted today by Dana Spiegel at nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net :
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Wireless co.: We’re a latte cheaper than Starbucks
By Julie Shapiro
Enterprising New Yorkers who want to make some fast cash need look no
farther than the nearest Starbucks.
FON, an international wireless Internet company, is giving free
wireless routers to anyone who lives near a Starbucks. The idea is to
undercut Starbucks’ $10-a-day Internet fee by charging customers only
$2 — a profit that users will split with FON.
“You get a free router, share the signal and help people save money
at the same time,” a FON spokesperson said.
So far, FON has received several thousand orders for free routers
from people who live within 150 feet of Starbucks or another coffee
shop, the spokesperson said.
Starbucks representatives declined to comment directly on FON’s
offer, but said, “We provide a premium service and our customers see
value in paying for it. We believe our customers want a fast,
guaranteed wireless experience.” T-Mobile currently provides
Starbucks’ wireless Internet service.
FON, a Madrid-based company founded by Martin Varsavsky, is just over
a year old. The unique FON routers, which offer separate channels for
public and private use, form a worldwide network of over 300,000
hotspots, a representative said. Users can choose to share their
wireless signal for free and receive free wireless from other FON
users around the world, or they can charge for their signal and hope
to make a profit.
Dana Spiegel, executive director of NYCwireless — a nonprofit that
builds free public wireless networks — is skeptical of FON’s plan.
Most of the FON hotspots Spiegel has seen in New York City are in the
apartments of people who live above the first or second floors. Since
wireless Internet travels only 100 to 150 feet indoors, “Only a
handful of apartments are able to take advantage of the hotspots,”
Spiegel said. “Everyone else in New York City has no advantage.”
While some Starbucks are located on the first floor of apartment
buildings, others are in business buildings, surrounded by open
lobbies with high ceilings, Spiegel said. In these cases, he doubts
anyone will be able to take advantage of the FON promotion.
Besides, Spiegel said, sharing one’s Internet service can be illegal.
Internet service providers like Comcast and Time Warner do not allow
consumers to resell their Internet connection — in fact, consumers
aren’t even allowed to give the connection away for free. Smaller
companies like Speakeasy and bway.net, on the other hand, allow
consumers to profit from reselling.
Spiegel estimates that 99 percent of all Internet connections in the
United States fall into the first category, making FON-style sharing
illegal.
FON C.E.O. Varsavsky posted a response to this criticism in his blog,
saying that FON has not received complaints from Internet service
providers.
“We don’t want anyone to violate terms and conditions that [Internet
service providers] choose to enforce,” Varsavsky wrote. Still,
Varsavsky acknowledged that no Internet service providers have
changed their terms and conditions to permit sharing.
FON’s announcement of the free routers caused a stir on online
message boards, where posters were split between enthusiasm and
skepticism.
On Gothamist.com, a New York City Web site, a poster named “jg”
wrote, “Gross. Make Internet free.”
While Spiegel and NYCwireless appreciate that FON educates the public
about wireless Internet, he basically agrees.
“NYCwireless has as philosophy that in public spaces, Internet should
be free,” Spiegel said. “[FON has] a philosophy that you should be
paying for the Internet in some way or another.”
--
Dana Spiegel
Executive Director
NYCwireless
dana@NYCwireless.net
www.NYCwireless.net
+1 917 402 0422 |
