[MLB-WIRELESS] Re: Here comes the pain...

[KevinL]

On Sat, 2002-09-21 at 18:59, Donovan Baarda wrote:
> On Sat, Sep 21, 2002 at 06:22:59PM +1000, evilbunny wrote:
> > Hello Donovan,
> > 
> > most WISPs aren't aiming at long distance, it's not a viable business
> > model, for starters AP's can only deal with a certain amount of users,
> > 2ndly they couldn't over power someone totally anyway, they have the
> > same 4W limits as we do, well 200mW on channels 10+
> 
> I was sorta playing "whatif" games, about the 10kms, as was the guy who
> first proposed the scenario.
> 
> I still think we are seeing the beginning of an "explosion" of commercial
> wireless that is probably going to end up with every Starbux, MacDonalds,
> Hungry-Jacks, whatever forming (exclusive) aliances with different wireless
> ISPs, resulting in wireless, wireless, everywhere, but nowhere you can link
> (appologies to the Ancient Mariner).

Some (maybe most?) wisps are linking into Gric or iPass (if they're not,
they should be looking into doing so, as it very closely meshes with the
target market in most cases) - so global roaming is possible, which can
bring billing down to a single provider.  There's at least one provider
out there about to start providing Passport authentication for signon
(*cough* there's only one billing system out there that can do that
*cough* :), so single sign-on is possible - but that doesn't solve the
"who do you pay" thing.

Many wisps are doing prepay - so you rock up to the access point, pay
your $10, and get your however long/however much.  There are other ideas
out there - but yeah, for anyone maintaining long-term accounts with
wireless providers, you can't use any hotspot you like - you'll have to
pick the wisp that best suits.  Bit like using a dialup provider, yeah?
:)  If you're going to spend lots of time in starbucks, then you should
subscribe with the starbucks' subscriber - assuming they're doing
postpaid or long-term accounts, not just pre-paid or pay-on-the-spot
type stuff.

Worth noting, at the moment I reckon most wisps are in "the more access
points the better" mode - it makes sense for everyone in the industry to
see an explosion of access points, just to get the idea of getting 'net
access on a laptop anywhere acceptable to the average laptop owner -
increases the overall market for all of them.

KJL


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