WiFi Hotspots to Cost Wireless Carriers $12B

j.e. writes "Commercial WiFi hotspots and open WiFi networks will take about $12 billion out of wireless carrier revenue pie, says Starategy Analytics. With high prices of mobile data services from wireless carriers, the users are more prone to use a cheap WiFi connection, if one is available."

Comments

Cry Me A River

[thelizman]

First off, the wireless carriers are making a killing, and that much is evident by the growth, and they are still charging long distance rates that aren't justified by infrastructure costs. So they can certainly compete by lowering fees, simplifying their draconian and overly complex pricing structures, and try to get more market share.

Secondly, the tone of this article is just...dumb. It's predicated on the notion of a zero sum game. Having an alternative to costly cell phone actually creates market share, which means some or most of that money comes from people who wouldn't use similar services on the cell carriers.