Wi-Fi frenzy has hit a number of U.S. cities. I hope they know what they’re getting into.
EarthLink Inc. has promised the city of Philadelphia it will roll out a low-cost Wi-Fi system to its underprivileged, while a Massachusetts airport is furious that Continental Airlines offers free Wi-Fi access to its best customers. Both announcements lead me to ask: Is anyone making money from Wi-Fi yet? Has the business model been hammered out?
EarthLink “won” the Philadelphia contract to cover 135 square miles of the city with a Wi-Fi mesh network. The Internet service provider will fund the network, build the network, manage the network and give some money to the city. Since this project is designed to give broadband access to people in underserved areas, it should offer the service at a cheap price. Beyond providing access, though, the project also will include computers and training on how to use them-all at no expense to the taxpayer. It could be wireless broadband Utopia-or not.
On the other side of the coast, Google Inc. made news last week because it said it will offer “free” Wi-Fi to the city of San Francisco if it wins a bid to bring broadband access to underserved areas of the city. Google intends to offset the cost of offering free access with advertising dollars. With location-based service finally making real gains, this could be a boon for Google. Is there a moral dilemma in bombarding people with ads in exchange for free access? I guess it’s done all of the time on network TV.
Will these broadband providers have to meet quality-of-service requirements? A crowded Wi-Fi access point doesn’t really provide broadband access to the people using it. Will there be mandatory service upgrades depending on use? What about software upgrades when needed? A PC running an outdated application on a fast network doesn’t aid productivity. And who decides when an access point is too crowded or an app outdated?
Further, because the city of Philadelphia is giving EarthLink access to its telephone poles, is it required to offer equal access to other companies that want access to those assets? How many pico base stations can one utility pole house?
Meanwhile, Continental Airlines is asking the Federal Communications Commission to rule that it should be allowed to offer free Wi-Fi access to its frequent-flyer customers. The Massachusetts Port Authority is citing safety concerns as the reason Continental should not be allowed to run its own Wi-Fi network at Boston-Logan International Airport. But the dispute likely is over the airport losing revenues from business travelers accessing the Internet free from frequent-flyer clubs.
I guess the Wi-Fi business model is working somewhere.
