Online payment methods for the un-banked

 

According to some industry forecasts, over 10 million low-income U.S. households will be brought online via municipal programs by 2010. In fact, the main impetus behind municipal networks is the economic and social development of under-served communities. Yet., most low-income families will not be able to take full advantage of the Internet: nearly 80 million people (about 36 million households) are “underserved” in terms of financial services, and most inner-city users of free or low-cost wireless broadband fall in this category.

 This mostly means no credit card, debit card or even bank account. What is the benefit of being online if onecannot purchase goods and services, including books, music, clothes, participate in auctions or send money overseas at bargain rates? Municipal governments will soon find out that providing free broadband access to households that don't have means of paying electronically will significantly hinder adoption and effective use of the service. The answer? Prepaid, reloadable cards that do not require credit or even a bank account.

 

10:05:17 PM    

High Fees Holding Back 3G Services (PC World). PC World - Mobile TV and Web browsing too expensive for most users, study finds. [Yahoo! News: Wireless and Mobile Technology]
9:35:35 PM    

Are there real savings in VoWiFi?

According to several sources, between 50 and 75% of mobile calls are made at home, the office, a public place or some other indoor location. Considering the current rates of 802.11 penetration in the home, office, restaurant etc, this would imply that somewhere between 20% and 25 % of calls are made within range of an 802.11 access point today. Considering the average cost of a cellular minute vs. the average cost of a VoIP call terminating off-net, we estimate that a hybrid W-Fi / Cellular solution would save operators approximately 15% in costs today. Part of the issue is that Wi-Fi penetration in the home and small business, in spite of the astronomic growth of the last 4 years, is still relatively low (between 10% and 15%). We expect the savings to quickly increase as penetration of Wi-Fi in private and public locations continues to grow at double digit rates.

9:11:24 PM    

Municipal Wireless Networks: not a whole lot of room left!

 

Municipal Wireless Network planners have a harsh reality to contend with: they won't  be the first one to claim rights to the contended 2.4 Ghz spectrum. Thousands of Access Point owners have already assessed "squatting rights" to the precious spectrum. The picture below shows a sample taken in the month of April of Wi-Fi access points identified at street level in the downtown area of Bozeman, MT (imagine what downtown Manhattan must look like) . This indicative sample shows that at the current stage of private Wi-Fi adoption, channel selection is - fortunately for any muni network advocate - still highly concentrated in 2-3 most popular factory-set channels (channels 6, 11 and 1), so there is room for a ...preemptive strike. Careful channel selection and constant monitoring of interference levels will be key to the performance of any city-wide network.

 

 

 

8:03:56 PM    

Shots Heard in Mobile WiMAX Revolution. Is all the activity at WiMAX World more bang than benefits? [Wi-Fi Planet Wireless News]

Qutes range from "A lot of people ask why we need another network? " to a more optimistic "It's going to take time for this stuff to happen".  Not a particularly encouraging perspective for WiMax advocates...

7:18:09 AM    

Investors Put $16M in Ruckus. Motorola Ventures and T-Online see investment paying off with wireless home entertainment. [Wi-Fi Planet Wireless News]
7:15:51 AM