Yet Another Hotspot Provider Pops Up
from the who-needs-a-business-model dept
Well, it seems we've realized what the next incredibly overhyped area of wireless technology will be. Yet another company is announcing plans to create a nationwide network of WiFi hotspots. This one is called FootLoose Networks, and it's a subsidiary of Wireless Retail, a mobile phone retail chain. They say they plan to create a "carrier agnostic" network of hotspots, so that users can log in, no matter which carrier they have an agreement with. They're hoping that their current relationships with wireless carriers will help them in the market. It still seem that the various commercial hotspot providers are having an incredibly difficult time getting people to pay up when competing against all the free hotspots out there. With reports coming in that current T-Mobile hotspots are only find an average of seven users, it's surprising that so many other companies are jumping into this space. There are clearly business model issues that need to be worked out, and plenty of companies are going to fail before it's over.
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What if
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Re: What if
How do you figure? You can already transmit data over ordinary powerlines in the home, and WiFi has won that market hands down. There's an advantage in not having to plug in.
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Re: What if
Just a thought.
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why everybody negative about wi-fi hotspots ??
I know people who would be customers for professional use of it, so keen on paying it a right price.
and, after all, it s not very different from the business of providing POPs for dial-up access, only they have a phisycal location to manage rather than a "telecom" location on exchanges.
It ll become commodity, sure, but not before connecting a substantial share of the online population at a reasonable investment.
Am I too way out of reality ?
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Re: why everybody negative about wi-fi hotspots ??
What I'm negative on is the way the commercial providers have gone about setting them up. Right now, they're charging ridiculous fees for very little coverage. If it were about 1/4 of the price they currently charge, then it would be a lot more reasonable.
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Hotspot Provider.
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