The Star Tribune recently reported that US Internet is finishing the roll-out of WiFi services to the Minneapolis area. I don’t mean to dismiss the efforts by all the vendors involved but I think this is a case of too little too late.
Comcast is rolling out DOCSIS3 in the cities and advertising 50Mbps Internet. Qwest is fumbling its way through an ADSL2+ FTTN implementation and promising 12 and 20Mbps. Sprint, Verizon, and others are building out high speed wireless networks.
I’d hate to be competing against those big boys even with a monopoly contract. They can market you to death. They can trench in fiber and eventually tap unlimited bandwidth. And they can refresh their technology faster.
Wireless internet access will ultimately be driven by mobile devices rather than people looking for cheap access from their stationary home. I can access the net using the Sprint network on my 8830 blackberry all over the world. Why do I need municipal wifi?
The biggest benefit to this wifi service is that it provides people with another option (and a lower cost option at that) for connecting to the net. I’m just uncertain the business case will survive long term.
