The Economics Of Metro Wi-Fi

DOWN TO BUSINESS: THE ECONOMICS OF METRO WI-FI
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: Rob Preston]
[Commentary] The politics of metro Wi-Fi center on special interests: the incumbent wireless carriers that want to protect their licensed monopolies or duopolies; the equipment makers that need fat contracts to pay for their R&D; the mayors and other elected officials who want to primp progressive for their constituents; as well as the state and national legislators taking mostly ideological sides. The societal issues revolve around whether affordable Internet access is a consumer or business necessity that demands some level of government assistance, or whether it's just another commercial good that's subject to supply and demand. The political and social squabbles are just background noise compared with the economics of metro Wi-Fi. If the economics of rolling out thousands of access points in congested cities prove compelling, critics don't have much of a case. But if the economics break down because these networks perform poorly or don't scale efficiently, metro Wi-Fi doesn't have a political or social leg to stand on. The economic arguments aren't as black and white. In places where there isn't much broadband competition, Wi-Fi holds great promise.
But in places that aren't Podunk small or tortilla flat, the potential for radio interference and signal degradation can't be ignored. Meantime, big city Wi-Fi networks, because of the sheer volume and power output of their access points, can interfere with smaller-footprint Wi-Fi networks already in place, experts say. And because the metro Wi-Fi industry is so immature, cities are locking themselves into pre-standard systems, mostly from small vendors. Ubiquitous broadband communications is a worthy public policy goal--to serve underserved citizens, cut municipal costs, and promote overall economic vitality. But don't equate a solution to a problem to the solution. Big city Wi-Fi may very well be the real deal, but a few intrepid municipalities may have to make some costly mistakes before we know for sure.
http://www.informationweek.com/hardware/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=1837...

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