Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

1.  

   Creative Thinking

   

   Its Me, Jan 9th, 2009 @ 6:09pm

   
   

   I do not believe that the idea of large scale "free" WIFI is dead but it will require a new and creative business model to make it work. There are ways to make money either through selling advertising or I'm sure an unpopular idea to gather browsing habits of users and sell that data. Perhaps they could sell targeted ads based on where you are on the network by using time of flight triangulation. your near so and so's coffee shop stop on in and get a free cup etc... it just requires a little creative thinking and the money will show up

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

2.  

   Obsolete in a few years

   

   Adam, Jan 10th, 2009 @ 12:04am

   
   

   With handheld multimedia devices such as the iPhone having 3G internet access with full web browser support, I really don't see why large scale free WIFI is even important anymore. The 3G technology will only get better, and with tethering you will be able to use your laptop with high speed internet access nearly anywhere anyways.
   
   Any issues with Apple or other companys not allowing tethering of your devices will surely disapate once 4G or even 5G gets rolled out, it would be folly for any company to not take full advantage of such a technology for compadibility to universal devices such as a laptop.
   
   Honestly, we have been past the old 'wifi' era for a few years now.

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

3.  

   

   DS, Jan 10th, 2009 @ 7:29am

   
   

   Can we stop saying Free when it's not? It's 'pre paid'. What, you don't think the cost of WiFi is included in the cost of your double latte?

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

4.  

   Philly

   

   Dave, Jan 10th, 2009 @ 10:01am

   
   

   I'm in Philly now, and before getting here I was very interested to hear that they had free Wifi. As you say, it's not a panacea... where I am in West Philly, it does work, but it's slow and fades in and out. I'm not sure how it is in other parts of the city, but their website apparently at least shows coverage areas.
   
   A few months ago, Earthlink pulled out of this, and all were saying that it would go dark, but apparently local investors took over. True, it must be really hard to make any money doing this. I can only imagine what a big deal it is to set something like this up in a big city.
   
   What some cities have done is to work a deal where businesses pay to use the network and the public can use it for free.

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

5.  

   WiFi Model

   

   Rory Conaway, Jan 10th, 2009 @ 3:55pm

   
   

   Triad re-evaluated the model and believe that the biggest problem with WiFi is the cost/benefit ratio. If cities would look at the big picture and could get departments to work together which is very difficult in some cities and easier with others, then it makes a big difference. However, given the price tag of most big mesh manufacturers, $50K-$150K per square mile. We redesigned the system and if you give up a few of the high-end features while getting up to 20Mbps, hen the cost drops to $3K - $6K per square mile with more complete RF coverage and excellent scalability. Unfortunately this design came after all the big failures. We have started to deploy proof of concept demos in a couple areas with some higher profiles like the Suprise, Az Baseball Stadium for the Texas Rangers spring training this year. At that price point and the status of our economy, a vendor could charge $9.95 to $19.95 per month and easily make a profit. This is the great digital divide breakthrough cities were looking for.

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

6.  

   Why should the city get a concession

   

   Anonymous Coward, Jan 11th, 2009 @ 8:50am

   
   

   So why should NYC get a concession when someone decides to offer something for free to the residents of the city? One would think that the city might even should pay a little for the service, but at the least, only take money if the advertising revenue stream became profitable.
   It's just simply that there was too much greed to make it work.

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

7.  

   I can't believe it!

   

   Anonymous Coward, Jan 12th, 2009 @ 9:24am

   
   

   Nobody wanted to sell llllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooottttttttttttttttsssssssssssss of t-shirts?

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

8.  

   Re:

   

   nasch, Jan 12th, 2009 @ 1:00pm

   
   

   Did the cost of the double latte go up when the coffee shop installed the wifi network?

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

9.  

   A novel solution

   

   austin, Jan 16th, 2009 @ 2:26am

   
   

   Why not do something similar to what happens in Cory Doctorow's "Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town"? Basically, they salvage parts to build wifi repeaters and secure permission from businesses to stick a small black box in a corner of their establishment to create a wifi mesh. With a small investment and a lot of low-tech, you can easily blanket large areas (in the book, downtown Vancouver, I think.)

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

Add Your Comment