Slowly, but surely, WiFi continues to creep forward into near-ubiquity. It is a good thing too, as people reach for VoIP calls on their iPhone and want mobile UC apps without having to clock cellular minutes.
It hasn't been an easy road. Back in 2003, AT&T, IBM and Intel teamed up to launch Cometa Networks, a venture to roll out a national Wi-Fi network. A couple of years and $60 million later, Cometa dissolved into vapor. At the same time Cometa launched, Verizon was running WiFi hotspots in NYC by recycling pay phone infrastructure, but pulled the plug after they had a problem monetizing the effort.
Another bump in the road has been well-intentioned efforts to build all-encompassing muni-WiFi networks that met the reality of "There's no such thing as a free lunch." Town fathers wanted all the benefits of cheap wireless broadband but were reluctant to dedicate the resources necessary to make it happen (Or they wanted to reap the benefits and get additional fees from leasing antenna spots). On the other side, the private sector seemed to have crazy ideas that, if they built it, profits would come. Earthlink reportedly lost $80 million in 2007 trying to build out muni-Fi projects.
Yet WiFi continues to proliferate, a storefront at a time. The Baja Fresh around the corner from my house offers free WiFi and many of the local non-chain restaurants are also turning up WiFi. How fine dining and wireless access go together is beyond me, but to each his own. Do I need to mention McDonald's here?
Proliferation of WiFi makes VoIP and UC all the more valuable, because it enhances the ability of people to make non-PSTN calls. And with more ubiquitous connectivity, the possibility of new and better IP communications apps also increases.
- Doug [1]
Links:
[1] mailto:doug@fiercemarkets.com