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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."
There are some places in the world were gprs is a cheaper option to dialup. For my girlfriend in jakarta, the dialup option charges her for how much time she spends online. While she can get unlimted access via gprs for about $20-$30 per month from indosat. Other than some major latency and connection issues to a couple sites, she can get dialup speeds pretty easily.
In America we are imprisoned by our fear of them.
Exactly what I was thinking. When I read the headline I was imaginging that cellular data use was way more popular than I imagined and that WiFi hotspots are eating into that side of the business.
Just because the wireless carriers projected ridiculous revenue from their own WiFi hotspots that they won't make doesn't mean the carriers are "losing" anything since they never had the money in the first place.
I have a suggestion for the wireless carriers to "regain" some of the money they never had to begin with. Charge competitive rates for your WiFi services and you will get more of that business.
Obviously completely incorrect because people will use it A LOT at the lower price, and almost NOT AT ALL at the higher price. Smells like RIAA and MPAA maths to me.
In Soviet Russia the insensitive clod is YOU!
And what is worse, the effective usability of cell phones is now WORSE than what they were just 4 to 6 years ago.
Yes, things were still mostly analog, with a few early adopters having digital, but for roaming your analog service was virtually seamless, especially along major interstates.
I recently drove west along I-10 with a digital phone, and spent literally hours where I could not get a call out. Yes it was in some of the "mountain" areas, but it was an area that used to have analog coverage that worked (because I drove it and know).
It really infuriates me what they've done. I spent several years building cellular (analog) networks, even in some mountain areas. I know the service is possible in these areas, but since the "new and improved" digital phones include the ability to restrict what services the phones may roam on (and in some cases, the newer phones won't even do analog), we've gone BACKWARDS. It's pathetic!
. 62,400 repetitions make one truth -- Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Haven't tried edge myself but (working for an opco) we have been a bit embarrassed by the latency of GPRS....typically around 800ms, sometimes worse. Also true as you say that you want a good signal level. With the data cards we sell we include an external antennae as the results with the one built into the card are not wonderful
The good news is that we are seeing much reduced latency with 3G, down to about 200ms. OK, that is still not wonderful compared to a good broadband connection, but is a big improvement.
But as another response indicates, there are going to be limits to how low we (or rather our suppliers) can get the latency.
Bingo. I looked into data services on my GSM phone.
They wanted three cents per kilobtye.
That's $30 a Meg - are those motherfuckers crazy?
Download one really good porn avi or mpg and you are talking about $20,000. For $20,000 you should have dozens of real live women delivered to wherever you happen to be using your cell phone, lubed up and ready for sex.
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
This reminds me of a very cool hotspot search engine. Dowza. It lists free and paid hotspots with map, Google ads only.
I spent $10 on a bottle of wine. So should the headline read "Wine purchase costs banana growers $10"?
It's the same logic the RIAA and MPAA use, and it's fallacious.
It's not their money. It's not being taken from them. It's not costing them shit. It's just diverting money they think should be theirs to other, more worthwhile. uses. But there's no real evidence that it ever would have been spent on what they have to sell, rather than saved, or spent on any other thing in the world that can be bought.
These people's sense of entitlement to what they haven't earned is sickening. Bunch of corporate welfare scroungers. Next they'll go whining for the government to seize the money for them.
Get your teeth into a small slice: the cake of liberty
> > > > And 33.23456% are made up right there on the spot.
> > > And 74.3572% are made up on the spot
> >
> I'm not sure your figure is precisely correct.