December 24, 2009

Larry Magid asks Will Free Wi-Fi Become the Norm?

In a word: Absolutely. As I noted on their site, My company provides free Wi-Fi in NYC three prime locations. We built the free Wi-Fi network in Times Square The Times Square Alliance (a Business Improvement District) and for Yahoo! We also built networks in Rockefeller Plaza and Concourse and in Union Square for The Syfy Channel, and for the Union Square Partnership, the local business improvement district.

Increasingly, free Wi-Fi is being offered to promote brands. Increasingly, businesses and business improvement districts are offering free Wi-Fi as a means of drawing people into stores, people with the latest Wi-Fi gadgets.

As Wi-Fi devices continue to flood the market, new revenue streams that support a free model will appear — couponing, advertising, location-based services.

CBS Mobile attempted two years ago to light up all of Manhattan between 59th and 42nd from 6th to 8th Avenues with the revenue coming from hyperlocal advertising. They weren’t wrong, they were early.

One should not unfortunately look for price relief from the carriers for cellular broadband. The fact is that data traffic from mobile devices is now choking their networks. AT+T has sold a boatload of iPhones. As a result, their network is suffering terribly. They and others — Verizon, T-Mobile, etc. are trying to offload as much traffic as they can from their cellular to their Wi-Fi networks. Will they offer theae Wi-Fi networks for free? If price motivates customers to migrate off the cell network for their data traffic, they will do so.

Wi-Fi will not help you upload an article while driving from the airport. That will still be cellular. But as the networks continue to spread and improve, Wi-Fi will become a ubiquitous amenity, especially for those who can afford a $300 device (iTouch, Nexus One) but not $760 a year in data charges.

By Marshall Brown | Permalink | Comments (0) |