Big Telcos Now Look to Support Municipal Wi-Fi
The Wall Street Journal (Regisration required) reports today that large telcos, who until now have been waging war against cities like Philadelphia and San Francisco and their plans to introduce free or low-cost high-speed wireless connectivity, have done an about-face and are now bidding on projects in this burgeoning sector.
The move, which will likely slow or end the telcos' efforts to get state legislatures to ban municipal wi-fi as "unfair" competition to private efforts, is in direct response to other players - Earthlink, Google, and regional firms - winning contracts with the cities and towns to build out and maintain the networks. Here's the money quote:
"AT&T...isn't anxious to offer a cut-rate or free service that could siphon off some of its DSL broadband customers, analysts say, but would rather cannibalize its own business than watch someone else snatch it away."
As good as this could be for consumers, bringing down subscription rates for access, will this only increase telcos' efforts to recoup any losses by charging content providers for data they send over the telcos' networks? Stay tuned.
The move, which will likely slow or end the telcos' efforts to get state legislatures to ban municipal wi-fi as "unfair" competition to private efforts, is in direct response to other players - Earthlink, Google, and regional firms - winning contracts with the cities and towns to build out and maintain the networks. Here's the money quote:
"AT&T...isn't anxious to offer a cut-rate or free service that could siphon off some of its DSL broadband customers, analysts say, but would rather cannibalize its own business than watch someone else snatch it away."
As good as this could be for consumers, bringing down subscription rates for access, will this only increase telcos' efforts to recoup any losses by charging content providers for data they send over the telcos' networks? Stay tuned.
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