Broadband Wireless Not Ready For Prime Time?

At a presentation before the FCC today, John Ryan of RHK made a number of statements that I'm sure might raise some eyebrows. First, he claimed that wireless broadband isn't ready for primetime and won't be for another three to five years. Of course, places that already are messing around with wireless broadband would pretty strongly disagree. Next, he said that wireless broadband will cause a huge headache for the FCC. Finally, he claimed that there's really no business model for WiFi. While I tend to agree that as a direct money maker, commercial WiFi hotspots are a tough business, I think there's tremendous potential in indirect business models, such as the McDonald's strategy of giving people free WiFi for an hour with the purchase of a value meal. It helps to bring in more customers who will pay for the sites core business. There is also potential for other indirect business models as well. Saying there's no business model shows a lack of business creativity.

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