The when-ness of wireless

摘要

Maybe our industry is too used to instant gratification, but it does seem like broadband wireless is slow in rolling out. There's a lot of talk about WiMAX, free municipal Wi-Fi services, 3G, wireless/wireline integration and so forth. But where's the action, and when? The main factor slowing broadband wireless deployment is questionable ROIs. Wi-Fi is unlicensed so it's hard to base commercial service on it; 3G licenses can run to $1,000 per customer. WiMAX chipsets and terminals also are expensive, costing hundreds of dollars. High terminal cost means low customer adoption rates, low revenue generation and generally dismal financial returns. Is there no hope?