From JD Lasica's excellent Weblog about online journalism, I got a pointer to an article in Online Journalism Review about a journalist's experiences with WiFi. Staci D. Kramer writes about trying to find WiFi connections. "My laptop is all dressed up for WiFi with nowhere to go."
She chronicles trying to find a WiFi connection as well as trying (or not being able) to send e-mail. (How many of you have had to use a third party Web-based e-mail service, such as Mail2Web, because you weren't able to send e-mail over a WiFi network?)
Staci writes: "An epiphany -- well, at least a small halogen lightbulb -- that true wireless could be the key to unlocking the value in so many Internet efforts. And then the crushing reminder that this was not even close to reality."
Crowing
T-Mobile/VoiceStream can crow about its hotspots in Starbucks, Boingo Wireless can publicize its 650 aggregated hotspots and small, local companies can dream about developing a viable business for WiFi by installing access points in one or two or a couple of dozen locations. But until there is an order of magnitude more public access points across the U.S., there won't be a sustainable nationwide business.
I'm not denigrating the efforts of T-Mobile, Boingo or the smaller companies, and I wish them the best of luck. Indeed, if individual restaurants, coffee shops, etc. want to offer free or inexpensive WiFi to customers, that's great. With a business-grade DSL line for, what? -- $100 a month -- and an inexpensive access point, even offering free WiFi might make good sense for many businesses.
It's just that there are too many places where there isn't coverage, such as most hotels (lobbies and meeting rooms), most airports and most convention centers. That's where the money for public WiFi networks will be made.
Cellular on the move
At the same time the public paid WiFi companies inch their way into other locations, Sprint PCS and Verizon Wireless, as I wrote on Wednesday, are rolling out CDMA 1xRTT coverage with speeds of about 40K bps - 60K bps. (The GSM GPRS networks by T-Mobile/VoiceStream, AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless are generally too slow for a pleasant wireless Internet experience, despite their advertising.)
I believe dialup speeds -- say, 45K bps -- will be "good enough" for many people, though certainly many executives want WiFi speeds. In a year or two, Sprint or Verizon might begin 1xEV-DO service which could provide data rates of 200K bps - 500K bps. The jury is still out on what the typical 1xEV-DO speed will be.
The cellular operators, time and time again, muck up their wireless data efforts with overpriced airtime, misleading the public about speeds and/or maintaining "walled gardens" (i.e., prisons) for content developers. But ever so slowly, the cellular industry is indeed offering faster speeds, better coverage and more devices.
No "time machine" for a second chance
WiFi has the opportunity to truly offer what most people want when they hear the term "wireless Internet" -- fast speeds at a reasonable price on the right device (a laptop computer, not a phone). But the WiFi community doesn't have an unlimited amount of time in which to develop a practical business model. The clock is ticking.
[Reiter's Wireless Data Web Log]
