Bandwidth Explosion Colloquium
Jeffrey writes "Are wireless 'hot-spots' potentially hot markets? Well, the participants of this panel seemed to think that "it's still unclear whether there is a business model that can turn Wi-Fi into profit." The article goes on to say that Starbucks chose wireless several years ago to connect up its back end system with the stores. Lo and behold, the company figured out that many of its customers used the web and were "high-end" business travelers as well. Of course offering them access seemed a "natural fit"; especially if your main business is selling high-end caffeinated beverages." We covered the story of how Starbucks uses WiFi for employees a few weeks ago. The article also says that most people who use Starbucks WiFi don't use it for very long - and they're not surfing the web. They just stop in, download some email, synch or check their calendar and move on. If that's the case, it's even more evidence that T-Mobile and Starbucks are charging way too much for their service.
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