hi Curt,
>>- both are designed both in-door and out-door, local and public
>
>WLAN, if you're talking about 802.11 (you really should be more
>specific), is most definitely *not* designed for public use.
actually I was thinking airports and car parks as outdoor ;) let's
concentrate on the key points 'cause messages have become too long.
and Benjamin,
I agree that billing is a problem but even in the mobile world,
the billing records, agents, and clearing houses are one of
the areas of the least standardized. in the worst case, all
the providers build their own access points and that's at least
not as bad as PHS.
the problem is whether we can provide a better service that many
service providers share the same access point, that a 'raman' shop
oji-san invests in the equipment/connection and each operator sign
with him to pay fixed monthly fee plus bonus on data volume, etc.
then some agent companies will rise up to negotiate with the shop
owners, do the installations, and provide the access to the service
providers. this is the same business model as the vending machines.
less than 3,000 yen a month (plus electricity), anyone can provide
a WLAN hotspot, doesn't that sound scary? ... and you have to keep
drinking while working with your notebook, then why should we mind
billing at all? ... Guinness will keep WLAN floating.
it's more scary that you don't need a Type-1/Type-2, mobile/PHS, ...
license to provide the service that not only Fujitsu, NEC, or Sony,
but all kinds of "Suzuki Shoten" or "Tanaka Unyu' etc., can also do
the business that if there is anything to worry, worry about over
competition to bring price down too quickly to kill the providers.
cheers,
Ken
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Received on Tue Jul 9 15:03:14 2002