Betting On Nothing In Particular
Not quite sure what the deal is here, but in a story that must just be about doing a local profile on a local startup “just because” a company that provides dialup and WiFi internet access to travelers seems to completely brush off the threat of free WiFi. Despite charging $0.20/minute for WiFi in the face of so much free WiFi, the guy in charge of the company claims the operation has a “big future,” though it’s not explained why at all. The only hint is that he thinks airports might be a good place, since there’s less competition from free. Of course, that’s exactly what people said years ago when the first WiFi business models showed up, and that means a good percentage of the important airports are already tied up in deals for WiFi access. Even worse (for this guy) is that, despite what he says (and what people expected) free WiFi is showing up in airports. The main reason is that retail outlets and airlines are starting to decide that they should provide WiFi as well as the airport — so there actually is some competition in airport WiFi. So, while I wish the guy luck, it seems unlikely that his existing business model is really going to prove to be that “big.”
