I would not necessarily agree that WMANs will make TMobile/Starbucks and other hotspots obsolete; WMANs would likely serve the consumer market where customers connect to the Internet from Home/Office (i.e. replace DSL and/or Cable). WISPs would serve the regions they seem most profitable since the capital investment is usually costly by its scale. Hotspots, on the other hand, serve a true mobile market, which is why Starbucks hotspots are successful by being uniform and present every other block and/or country.
They only way I can see WMANs replacing hotspots is if the AT&T's of the world enter the WiFi arena and provide affordable service. That would still require upgrading the infrastructure, partnering with cheap WiFi manufacturers (so it can be marketed to the masses) and a profitable model to make it worth the investment --oops, that goes the affordability-- :) --- Robert Guthrie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi all. I'm new to the list. > > I'm eagerly learning more about the wireless world, > and I have a question: > > Q: Won't the Hot Spots that Starbucks and others are > building become obsolete if/when the WMANs become > mainstream? > > Q: If so, when will that happen? In 2004, 2006, > 2008? > > I may have an opportunity to join a company that > provides Hot Spots across the country to certain > customers, and I wonder what value this company will > have down the road once the WMANs are everywhere. > > I imagine that the PC will be able to roam around the > metro just like our mobile phones do today, rendering > the Starbucks-specific infrastructure useless. > > Any feedback is very welcome. Thanks so much. > > Bob > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com -- general wireless list, a bawug thing <http://www.bawug.org/> [un]subscribe: http://lists.bawug.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
