Let all the people out there remember who has been riping them off for years with crap customer service and tarriff's, the cell phone companies thats who. Its long over due for these organisations to get a pasteing. The only real downside to technologies like WiFimax are organisations like Fon. If people get seduced by the spin they are putting on their sevice we will be right back to square one as consumers. Just look at the greedy bastards Fon has writing blogs about them, they are in it for one reason, only to make money from us. The management team from Jazz Tel who are behind Fon have nothing to brag about, that was an unmittegated disaster in terms of running a company, I should know I used to supply them!!Keep WiFimax for the people, not for the greedy barstards that want to find another way to rip us off and line their own pockets.
It's important, when navigating a complicated issue like this, to hear the always-relevant opinions of the ultra-rich. Richard Lowe probably gets compensated fairly well as one of Nortel's senior managers, and probably doesn't think twice about paying $200+/month for wireless 3G data. He's also probably friends with a lot of the people who run the telecommunications companies in North America, and doesn't think of them as rent-seeking weasels the way the rest of us do. The rest of us will enjoy our free wi-fi and will put up with it's lack of mobility and limited range, thank you very much.
Why would he be scared? Nortel is not a carrier, they have a strong productline in Wireless Mesh (802.11) and WiMax as well as 3G. Since they not a carrier, they don't care what the user pays as long as someone is deploying their technology.
The author really didn't think too far into the future on this. I think that eventually web access is going to be much like network tv, ad sponsored, and free to the public. Google seems to be looking to the future of communications, it may be a few years down the line but it will happen. You will not be able to function without using the web. The phone,computer,tv,radio and entertainment will evetually become one device...portable enought to carry, put in the car and home and this future wireless network will provide the content.It is happening now...:)
It is unfortunate that so many of the replies here are based on what people want, and not the reality of the situation. We all want free, wireless Gbps network access, but running a network costs money. It is simply not possible to build and manage such a network on pure advertising. The economics don't work, and companies like Google, Microsoft, and Nortel know this.While traditional telecom companies are far from perfect, they learned a few things from the collapse in 2000. One of the things they did was go back to their roots, and build solid business cases for the delivery of new services. If you look at the current trends, you can see that 100% ad supported services are already on their way out. In the immediate future, there will be no option other than 3G.
rapidrooterJul 18, 2006
Let all the people out there remember who has been riping them off for years with crap customer service and tarriff's, the cell phone companies thats who. Its long over due for these organisations to get a pasteing. The only real downside to technologies like WiFimax are organisations like Fon. If people get seduced by the spin they are putting on their sevice we will be right back to square one as consumers. Just look at the greedy bastards Fon has writing blogs about them, they are in it for one reason, only to make money from us. The management team from Jazz Tel who are behind Fon have nothing to brag about, that was an unmittegated disaster in terms of running a company, I should know I used to supply them!!Keep WiFimax for the people, not for the greedy barstards that want to find another way to rip us off and line their own pockets.
countsessineJul 18, 2006
It's important, when navigating a complicated issue like this, to hear the always-relevant opinions of the ultra-rich. Richard Lowe probably gets compensated fairly well as one of Nortel's senior managers, and probably doesn't think twice about paying $200+/month for wireless 3G data. He's also probably friends with a lot of the people who run the telecommunications companies in North America, and doesn't think of them as rent-seeking weasels the way the rest of us do. The rest of us will enjoy our free wi-fi and will put up with it's lack of mobility and limited range, thank you very much.
nortelboyJul 18, 2006
Why would he be scared? Nortel is not a carrier, they have a strong productline in Wireless Mesh (802.11) and WiMax as well as 3G. Since they not a carrier, they don't care what the user pays as long as someone is deploying their technology.
torandwatJul 18, 2006
3G is highly overrated, it's expensive to deploy, expensive to use and it's main use is for telcos to hang onto their old school business models...
sailorJul 20, 2006
The author really didn't think too far into the future on this. I think that eventually web access is going to be much like network tv, ad sponsored, and free to the public. Google seems to be looking to the future of communications, it may be a few years down the line but it will happen. You will not be able to function without using the web. The phone,computer,tv,radio and entertainment will evetually become one device...portable enought to carry, put in the car and home and this future wireless network will provide the content.It is happening now...:)
jcoomansJul 29, 2008
It is unfortunate that so many of the replies here are based on what people want, and not the reality of the situation. We all want free, wireless Gbps network access, but running a network costs money. It is simply not possible to build and manage such a network on pure advertising. The economics don't work, and companies like Google, Microsoft, and Nortel know this.While traditional telecom companies are far from perfect, they learned a few things from the collapse in 2000. One of the things they did was go back to their roots, and build solid business cases for the delivery of new services. If you look at the current trends, you can see that 100% ad supported services are already on their way out. In the immediate future, there will be no option other than 3G.