Take My WiFi, Please
The Associated Press is running their “what’s this about free WiFi hotspots?” story today. There’s nothing all that new in the article, and it actually does an okay job presenting a lot of the issues. It talks about how the for-fee WiFi providers are still trying to sort out their business model, and even knocks them for claiming people will pay for better security. They quote someone pointing out that the “security” is the same on a for-fee T-Mobile WiFi network in Starbucks as it is on a free access point in Bryant Park. The article wonders, accurately, why people would want to pay a regular subscription fee to access WiFi in various locations unless they’re constantly traveling, and suggests that models like Verizon’s (giving free WiFi access to those who have home DSL accounts) is a hybrid model that makes sense.
