On Tue, 24 Jun 2003, Benedict Evans wrote:
> A single 3G basestation now costs less that $50k, yet has a range
> measured in tens of miles in all directions (no pringle cans) and can
> cary 256 separate calls simultaneously. How many WLAN access points
> are needed for that coverage? 50? 100? 500?
I don't think that anybody disagrees that cellular is going to get
better coverage of cornfields in Iowa. But we should be comparing the
places where these things are really installed: urban locations. Do you
really think that one 3G base station would cover even all of Shibuya,
much less most of Tokyo?
> What does it cost to send a man with a van to
> all those locations? What is the backhaul - what are those access points
> connected to?! Wide area, large scale public WLAN is like trying to
> transport an infantry division in a whole lot of rowing boats. Sure, the
> rowing boat is a lot cheaper for one person - but not for 10,000.
This is just what they said about PHS, which in terms of take-up for
data access is currently kicking 3G's butt in Tokyo.
(Not that I don't think each has its place: you wouldn't catch me
carrying around a cellphone that only worked over WiFi. On the other
hand, you won't catch me shelling out tens of thousands of yen per month
in packet charges for relatively slow 3G cellular data connections,
either.)
cjs
--
Curt Sampson <cjs_at_cynic.net> +81 90 7737 2974 http://www.netbsd.org
Don't you know, in this new Dark Age, we're all light. --XTC
Received on Tue Jun 24 13:54:51 2003