Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Municipal WiFi On Life Support
The infrastructure costs were too high and the advertising revenue too low for Earthlink, which was inadequately prepared on the revenue side.
Why do free WiFi anyway? Cities like to offer free Internet access to bridge the digital divide and reach its lower income residents, but that noble goal costs big money because of the logistics of reaching inside apartment complexes. The other reason is to increase tourism and (theoretically) increase demand for local services.
The need for free WiFi diminishes every day as more private entities (Starbucks etc.) decide that it is in there best interest to provide it. Internet access over phone networks via the iPhone and others is also putting the web at the fingertips of many business customers.
Marketing free WiFi to the public requires clearly outlining the goals, costs and benefits. Google is probably the only company that could come close to making the economics work, and providing free web access is the opposite of being evil, right?
Cities could bridge the gap with ad revenue by charging local businesses an access fee to provide the service to prospect customers. More access means more shopping trips. For the lower-income folks, why not discount dialup or broadband access to consumers who qualify? Cities are increasingly strapped for cash, but providing ad-supported access via land lines could be much cheaper than the wireless route.
Posted By John Gartner at 10:25 AM
Permanent Link: Municipal WiFi On Life Support
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