And That’s Why I’m Not Investing*
From an NY Times article (Led by Intel, True Believers in Wi-Fi Say It Will Endure):
“The argument that free wireless Internet services will undercut the growth of providers such as Wayport, Cometa and T-Mobile is not supported by consumer behavior. … I can get free coffee at my office,” he said, “but I still go to Starbucks.”
It seems that Dave (Vucina, CEO of Wayport) has had a little too much coffee. Sure, it’s fun to cite companies such as Starbucks or Evian as sellers of things available for (near) free. But the comparison doesn’t hold here.
Wayport sells access, nothing more — and that makes them just the same as the (wonderful, blessed) free IP providers. Worse, with Wayport it’s less convenient to use (option A: power up. option B: power up and provide authentication/payment information for your time-limited session.)
Unless it’s strikingly speedier (difficult — it’s commodity equipment), Dave better just stick to saying that he’s poised to succeed because only his company is invited to the hotels and airports it services. If the free guys get in there, they’ll eat his lunch.
* plus, I’m poor.