Why Hotspots and WiFi shouldn’t die

Posted March 11, 2008 at 02:14 PM by JG Mason

Section: Communications, Broadband Cards, Mobile, Computers, Wireless

I am not buying into Ericsson’s CMO Johan Bergendahl’s comments regarding the future of WiFi.  Mr. Bergendahl is quoted as saying WiFi hot spots are going the way of the dodo bird, that is, extinct in the near future.  Perhaps in Europe this is readily becoming the case thanks to a densely populated landscape.  But WiFi Hotspots shouldn’t die over this.  Here is why:

Costs.  Every time a manufacturer puts in EVDO or HSPA capabilities it creates a brand new revenue opportunity from its user.  In Mr. Bergendahl’s vision, who by the way works for the company who would/will/is getting rich from this scenario, our phone will have one connection, our laptop another, our desktop another still.  This forces all 3 units (phone, laptop, desktop) to have their own separate accounts.

WiFi is still the fastest game in town for most Americans.  Sure a more complete 3G network is on the horizon and 4G promises to be faster still.  But, to assume that WiFi speed advances won’t be occurring during this time seems short-sighted to me. 

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