[IP] Companies That Fought Cities On Wi-Fi, Now Rush to Join In
Begin forwarded message:
From: Bob Frankston <Bob19-0501@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: March 20, 2006 5:02:57 PM EST
To: David Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Companies That Fought Cities On Wi-Fi, Now Rush to Join In
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114282253898102708.html?
mod=hps_us_inside_today
Having tried to stop cities from offering cut-rate or free wireless
Internet access to their citizens, some large phone and cable
companies are now aiming to get into the market themselves.
Telecom and cable giants have traditionally been critical of city-
sponsored broadband initiatives, questioning their financial
viability and, in some cases, even pushing for state laws to bar or
restrict them. Now, in an effort to compete with similar initiatives
by Google Inc., EarthLink Inc. and others, some of the companies are
changing their tune.
…
* * * *
This would be wonderful if these were just contracts to operate the
facilities but I fear that they will be treated like franchises and
we’ll repeat the experience of Logan Airport which has tried to
prevent competition from open access points. I expect the carriers to
attempt to extend the idea of the billable Internet rather than
providing a “connectivity commons”.
I very much support the concept of wireless connectivity but we’re
going to go through a period of adjustment as we attempt to treat it
as just like another phone line or broadband connection. It’s akin to
franchising highways but selling rides instead of letting us just
drive our own cars.
This quote says it better than I can “For the cable companies, "I
think it really comes down to retaining the customer, and making sure
if there's going to be a wireless broadband component as part of your
portfolio, you can at least charge five or ten bucks incremental per
month for it," says Rick Rotondo, director of marketing for the
division of Motorola Inc. that provides Wi-Fi equipment used in city
networks.”
I wonder how much complexity billability adds to the networks.
The good news is that the carriers are likely to set in motion a
dynamic they can’t control as people start to explore connectivity
and find the billing regimen incompatible with the most important
applications. Will a pacemaker be able to connect home if the user
(AKA human) is in the wrong billing zone?
Bob Frankston
http://www.frankston.com
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