The Killing of Wi-Fi

[Kris Kumar]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2098483,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2098483,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div><i>"There is mounting evidence that the cellular service companies are going to do whatever they can to kill Wi-Fi. After all, it is a huge long-term threat to them. We've seen that the route to success in America today is via public gullibility and general ignorance. And these cell-phone–service companies are no dummies. The always-entertaining Pew Internet &amp; American Life Project ran a survey, and the results show that 34 percent of Internet users have gone online with a Wi-Fi connection or one of those newly popular and overpriced cell-phone services. Two years ago, this number was 22 percent. Another factoid from the survey: 19 percent of all users have Wi-Fi in the home. This number was a mere 10 percent just one year ago. The last tidbit from the survey worth noting is that only 56 percent of the people who have PDAs that hook to the Internet have actually gone on the Net via their PDA. The same goes for the people who have cell phones with Internet capability; not much more than half have actually used it."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Kris-2007mar-NoWifi.JPG" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />John Dvorak has written an interesting article for PC Magazine that details how much the cellular companies love to sideline Wi-Fi. This topic is not a new one, and we have all heard enough arguments about how carriers don't like to launch products with built-in Wi-Fi or how Verizon Wireless used all its might against Philadelphia's plan to launch city-wide Wi-Fi coverage. What I found interesting about John's article was that it focused on the aspect that the consumers are gullible, and that the lack of awareness with respect to technology is being exploited by the cellular companies. We would like to hear your thoughts and comments on this very interesting topic. What can we do to prevent the elimination of Wi-Fi? Or are the carriers correct when they say that the cellular 3G technology better?

[Pete Paxton]

I have a feeling the big four companies are making a bundle on their data plans. I think the only reason that Tmobile allows the Dash to have wifi is because without it there would be no hi-speed data at all since tmo is not 3G. That's why when I hear people say "since I have 3G, wifi is not big deal" I sort of cringe because for people who have wifi at home and at work, there may not be a need for a data plan. So at this point there are only a handful of wifi PPC's left and just one smartphone that has wifi. I sure hope we don't lose it all together. The next time I upgrade my phone, I may just keep my Dash and purchase another phone just in case wifi is gone.

[scottb]

While I agree the carriers don't want to lose out to WiFi, I disagree with anyone's statement that that it's no big deal because they have 3G. I have an Ev-DO device and it still is nowhere close to WiFi for general use.

[Fritzly]

The fact that customers use WiFi or not is irrilevant; Carriers should not be allowed to cripple the functionality, period.

While I personally I am not affected by these silly manuevering because I never bought any device through a Carriers I strongly believe that the Congress representatives, supposedly our servants, should keep the Carriers at bay.

No surprise that here in the US we are so behind the rest of the world both for Cellular phones and High Speed connections.

[starrwulfe]

I don't know if we should worry about Wi-Fi going away from wireless devices totally... I mean look at device makers like HTC-- They stick a Wi-Fi radio in everything they make! Then look at the plans of certain wireless carriers like Sprint. Sprint will be jumping to WiMax starting 4th quarter 2007. This means future wireless devices will be fully IP connected... The phone part will simply be an SIP client that uses VOIP... Sprint will let you use Wi-Fi for indoor coverage... The question at that point will be will players like Skype be shut out of these networks so you're simply paying sprint and other carriers for Wide Area network access but you bring your own SIP client... I can see this happening this way because players like Sprint are partnering up with cable companies like Comcast and Time Warner to do the Quad-Play-- (TV, Landline, mobile phone, and broadband internet in homes and businesses.)

[Tim Williamson]

The fact that customers use WiFi or not is irrilevant; Carriers should not be allowed to cripple the functionality, period.

While I personally I am not affected by these silly manuevering because I never bought any device through a Carriers I strongly believe that the Congress representatives, supposedly our servants, should keep the Carriers at bay.

You really want the government butting in on the free market? People need to inform and decide for themselves whether they buy a device with or without WiFi.

[Kris Kumar]

Great points, folks!

I have been thinking about this issue and this is how I see it:

Wireless Internet access, be it Wi-Fi or 3G or EDGE or EV-DO or WiMAX adoption for me depends on these three factors:
- price
- availability
- speed

Cellular carriers provide Internet access that is available everywhere and speed varies but is still slower than Wi-Fi and also expensive.

Wi-Fi is FREE (at least most of the time) and speed is awesome. The only trouble is availability, you have to be in Wi-Fi zone. Another benefit it is un-restricted, and un-metered. I wouldn't mind paying higher county or town tax to ensure town wide Wi-Fi for FREE, at least it won't be as high as the $20, $30 or $40 that we pay right now for cellular data plans.

WiMAX might be the answer that brings the high speeds to the carrier networks but albeit at an expensive data plan. And also with restrictions like starrwulfe mentioned.

Bottomline, (I believe for me) Wi-Fi is undoubtedly the best option. Too bad the carriers restrict the handsets and are lobbying against the adoption of Wi-Fi. :-( And forcing me to pay data plan costs.

[bradmatejo]

TMobile allow wifi in the Dash because they have an army of subscription hotspots allover (in every Starbucks plus others). They're trying to make money off the subscriptions. Whether they find that revenue to be greater than that lost by customers not buying data plans (my guess is No) could determine whether they continue to allow wifi in their phones.

[AdamaDBrown]

You really want the government butting in on the free market? People need to inform and decide for themselves whether they buy a device with or without WiFi.

There is no such thing as a free market without legal strictures against unfair business practices. A completely unregulated "free" market would have no rules against charging $20 for a gallon of water, or buying up all your competitors and charging whatever you liked for cellular service. Likewise for fuel efficiency, service availability, redlining, and on and on. The idea that a "free" market solves all problems is a complete myth.

[Tim Williamson]

But having the government say that a manufacturer can or can't include WiFi in their product seems absurd (sure it sounds nice to us). It's really up to the consumer, don't go with a carrier that won't allow WiFi in the devices they carry.

[kerrins]

I live near the Google campus and often read articles about how they will set up WiFi for free in the area. They've already set it up in Mountain View (BTW, thank you Google). Other communities are starting to follow suit and I would certainly love to be able to drop my $20/mo fee to use faster free WiFi.

[AdamaDBrown]

But having the government say that a manufacturer can or can't include WiFi in their product seems absurd (sure it sounds nice to us).

There's a difference between requiring carriers to offer WiFi, and preventing them from employing anti-competitive practices: something that many carriers, both the cell phone companies and the incumbant landline telecoms, have done with great impunity. You need only look at the stories about the things that a lot of cities are going through because they want to deploy metropolitan WiFi: astroturf, fear campaigns, front groups, legal injunctions, influence peddling, bribery, and all manner of other underhanded tricks.

The reason is that telecom companies overcharge for the cost of their services, plain and simple. Truth be told, you can very easily justify these systems by way of the cost savings just for local businesses and government, and can still open it up free to the public.