Mobility Site - View Single Post - Cringely on "How WhyFi can turn hotspots into a real industry"

01-09-04, 03:14 PM

Cringely brings up some great points about why the current system is not working really well and what can be done to make WiFi access much better. As a T-Mobile and AT&T WiFi user, I can tell you I can't stand the fact that there just isn't enough WiFi access around the country.

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040108.html

"Frankly, though, I think the current efforts are misguided and pathetic. I don't want 20,000 hotspots in my network, I want at least one million. The current aggregators would like that kind of number, too, but they can't think how to achieve it. I think I have figured it out and am happy to share my idea. If any reader runs with it and makes a fortune, don't forget me, okay?

The current model for hotspot aggregation is based on revenue sharing. I own one or a hundred hotspots and join the Boingo network, for example. Boingo provides software and backend services to allow its subscribers to log-on to my hotspot, sharing with me some of that revenue based on usage with Boingo keeping a commission on every transaction.

Thinking in commercial terms revenue sharing seems to be the only way to go but I feel it isn't. I think the revenue sharing model of these outfits is precisely what's holding back WiFi from being an even greater success. The problem is that the revenue potential of such a business is minimal. There just isn't enough reward for anyone and I can't see that this fact is going to change for any reason.

So we need to come up with a better alternative to revenue sharing as a raison d'etre for our aggregation business. But that's not all we have to change. The current national WiFi networks are so small in part because of the arduous means through which they come into existence. By this I mean that hotspots first have to exist in order to be aggregated, which is a steep barrier to entry. I think the hotspots should be first aggregated and THEN exist. That way, rather than hoping for some small percentage of hotspot owners to join a network hotspots can be generated where they are needed, not just where they happen to exist."

01-09-04, 03:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
cageyjames Guest Posts: n/a	Cringely on "How WhyFi can turn hotspots into a real industry" Cringely brings up some great points about why the current system is not working really well and what can be done to make WiFi access much better. As a T-Mobile and AT&T WiFi user, I can tell you I can't stand the fact that there just isn't enough WiFi access around the country. http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040108.html "Frankly, though, I think the current efforts are misguided and pathetic. I don't want 20,000 hotspots in my network, I want at least one million. The current aggregators would like that kind of number, too, but they can't think how to achieve it. I think I have figured it out and am happy to share my idea. If any reader runs with it and makes a fortune, don't forget me, okay? The current model for hotspot aggregation is based on revenue sharing. I own one or a hundred hotspots and join the Boingo network, for example. Boingo provides software and backend services to allow its subscribers to log-on to my hotspot, sharing with me some of that revenue based on usage with Boingo keeping a commission on every transaction. Thinking in commercial terms revenue sharing seems to be the only way to go but I feel it isn't. I think the revenue sharing model of these outfits is precisely what's holding back WiFi from being an even greater success. The problem is that the revenue potential of such a business is minimal. There just isn't enough reward for anyone and I can't see that this fact is going to change for any reason. So we need to come up with a better alternative to revenue sharing as a raison d'etre for our aggregation business. But that's not all we have to change. The current national WiFi networks are so small in part because of the arduous means through which they come into existence. By this I mean that hotspots first have to exist in order to be aggregated, which is a steep barrier to entry. I think the hotspots should be first aggregated and THEN exist. That way, rather than hoping for some small percentage of hotspot owners to join a network hotspots can be generated where they are needed, not just where they happen to exist." Last edited by cageyjames; 01-09-04 at 07:12 PM.