0 commentsOne of my responsibilities here at work is to analyze a proposed installation of wireless internet access within dining locations of a popular fast food chain that recently expanded to Thailand. The company that was chosen to install and manage the hotspots has grandiose plans to cheaply run their backbone connections through Thaicom's iPSTAR Broadband Satellite System. (The iPSTAR will be huge news in the satellite world- if it ever launches- as it will be equipped to cover a large part of Asia with approximately 45 gigabits of total bandwidth.) Because Thaicom has a monopoly on broadband internet connections in Thailand, and because this new hotspot company is a Thaicom subsidiary, the amount which they were able to underbid competing Bangkok companies for this project was phenomemal.
I agree with this summary of a recent Forrester Research report that says most of the money being pumped into public wireless hotspots today is being wasted. Another recent report says that hotspots are "almost a textbook case of effective repurposing of technology", and that the highest potential WiFi profit centers are hotels and major airports. (FYI, forty two percent of laptops shipped this year will have built-in wireless.) The primary reason we are looking at wireless here is to establish the restaurant brand with a trendy technology and garner a little press; luckily, Thaicom will bear the long-term risk.
Last summer I was very interested in what I continue to believe is an overlooked yet significant potential profit center for WiFi: medium- to long-term stay multiple dwelling units, such as currently unwired luxury apartment complexes. Open wireless spectrum can enable local ISPs to compete where Roadrunner has previously dominated- and with faster speeds, to boot.