Wi-Fi Quotes

• "A new report from JupiterKagan says that while growth of public Wi-Fi usage was up a full 43 percent from 2004 to 2005, 58 percent of people will only use it if the connection is free. JupiterResearch believes the goal for the providers has to be getting businesses and their traveling employees to sign up for services, as they're far more likely to pay than consumers."
• Om posts: "In five years, most major metros and suburbs will have ubiquitous Wi-Fi based broadband coverage says Chuck Haas, the co-founder and chief executive officer of MetroFi, a Mountain View, Calif.,-based start-up that is rolling out metro wireless networks. He thinks most metros and suburban areas in the US will be WiFi hot-zones, by end of the decade."
• Om again: "If you circle back to my Business 2.0 story, The Google Net, this is precisely how the network was going to be monetized. Instead of using Feeva’s technology, well they seem to be building their own."
• "It has certainly been a lot more challenging than originally anticipated, and it reinforces my belief that WiFi is not all science, it's art and science," said Ernest Andrade, of Charleston's economic development department. "People need to moderate their expectations." Mount Pleasant telecommunications firm Widespread Access LLC, and the company that owns the Post and Courier of Charleston invested about $500,000 to develop the system, which initially was scheduled to be available by the end of 2005. Other cities in the state, including Columbia, have discussed plans to roll out public WiFi. Charleston will be one of 56 cities in the country with citywide networks.
• In Charleston, residents and businesses may need to buy signal-boosting antennas, costing $40 to $100, to access the system. Also, the system, like most public wireless networks, will be subject to security limitations. "I wouldn't do anything on the connection that you wouldn't mind posted on a billboard on I-26," said Jon Kibler, chief technical officer at Advanced Systems Engineering Technology, a Mount Pleasant-based cyber-security firm.