BellSouth Buys Into Verizon's WiFi Strategy

from the why-no-one-else? dept

It's been somewhat surprising that no other broadband provider has followed up on Verizon's WiFi plans. They set up a bunch of hotspots in Manhattan and then offered them for free - but only to customers of Verizon DSL. This makes perfect sense. It helps them keep their current DSL customers, while providing additional incentive to others to sign up for Verizon DSL - because they get additional benefits beyond just the connection at home. Yet, it's been nearly a year, and it appears that others are only just realizing this. Found over at WiFi Networking News is the story that BellSouth is testing a similar program in Charlotte, North Carolina. Verizon has already said the program in NY has been quite successful (reducing churn significantly), so maybe others will finally start to adopt this model as well. Update: In oddly related news, the Associated Press is reporting that collectors are rushing to buy up BellSouth's old payphones. With Verizon, they turned the pay phones into wireless access points. Perhaps Bell South might want to hang onto the pay phones a little longer...