Ricochet's failure demonstrates why it can be easier, faster, and more effective to have grassroots community networks blanket the city with ubiquitous wireless Internet access in NYC, LONG TERM. And free, of course.
What contributed to their downfall, may have been any combination of the following: 1. Investment in proprietary, licensed slice of spectrum. 2. Lease, or purchase of space rights for equipment. 3. Monthly service charges that cost more than a typical ADSL line ($75) with speeds hovering between 128-200 kbps. 4. Equipment for end-user was quite pricey, between $200-$300. 5. Administrative costs associated with accounts, management, billing, tech support. 6. Marketing costs. The NYCwireless model: Unlicensed 802.11b, equipment placed with owners consent and encouragement for free, Free usage, no administrative overhead, word of mouth and plentiful press coverage. While we may not enjoy the citywide coverage offered by Ricochet, YET, we should see growth in numbers of public nodes, shared with intent. Jacob Farkas On 12/9/03 3:05 PM, "Kev" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> damn ... now if only bloomberg would give *us* access to lamp posts and city >> property ;-) > > Well, if they do, I hope that they can at least work out a deal with > Aerie to restart the Ricochet network alongside. In terms of citywide > coverage nothing beats ricochet. >> -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
