Canada Pushes for More Wi-Fi By Sean
Michael Kerner March 17, 2004
TORONTO -- The Canadian government may soon have to
change the official motto of Ontario to "Wireless she
began and wireless she remains" as the number of hotspots
continues to rise in the area. According to research
collected by Bell Canada, one third of large businesses
and 20 percent of medium sized business in Canada use
Wi-Fi .
But general manager Kerry Eberwein says wireless in
the country may be very pervasive, but it doesn't mean
that you always have to be working. "Do not to get caught
up in wireless hype," Eberwein said to attendees at
this week's Wi-Fi Planet Expo and Conference here. Eberwein
noted that Bell's research found Adoption of Wi-Fi and
its ubiquity relies on four critical factors: a strong
footprint, stability of standards, price affordability
and ease of use. "Wireless can offer significant business
advantage for all enterprise verticals" Eberwein said
suggesting that carrier grade wireless solutions are
particularly important for health care enterprises as
it can reduce error and improve efficiencies.
Similar to its American counterparts, Bell Canada has
been expanding its offerings including building its
wireless portfolio. Eberwein said the company is now
committed to pursuing wireless access across the provinces.
The company also supplies Satellite Television, Internet
access, owns the Globe and Mail Newspaper, the CTV television
network and of course still operates a large Canadian
Telco base. The motivation is quite simple, according
to Eberwein. Bell Canada wanted to bring carrier grade
quality to wireless solutions. Part of the company's
Wi-Fi strategy has been to deploy hotspots in train
stations and airports using existing infrastructure
that it already has in those locations.
Already, Bell Canada has replaced some of its public
payphone installations, which already have connectivity
and power, with wireless hotspot technology. Sadly for
Bell, public Wi-Fi is still not a revenue generating
business. The stalwart Canadian Telco said it sees its
current Wi-Fi hotspots in public locations and passenger
trains as pilots to gauge consumer demand and requirements.
That lack of moneymaking prospects for hotspots is troublesome
to Jupiter Research's Julie Ask who led a panel discussion
on the revenue generating potential of Wi-Fi access
points like the ones found in Starbucks.
Sean O' Mahoney, president & CEO of Wi-Fi hotspot company
FatPort noted that his company's research found only
6 percent of Canadians expected that Wi-Fi should be
free. That contrasted starkly with a number noted by
Ask whose research suggests 60 percent of Americans
want hotspot access but don't want to pay for it. Ask
also mentioned Jupiter Research statistics that showed
that in the U.S. 70 percent of the online population
is aware of Wi-Fi, however only 1 percent had ever actually
paid for wireless access.
As the largest public Wi-Fi provider in Canada, FatPort
claims its 60 minute access offerings is the most popular
service at 56 percent of all signups. O'Mahoney did
concede that the average FatPort customer is online
for 1 hour and 26 minutes. "At this point it's not about
profit. It's about cash flow," he said noting that FatPort
has seen some good success by having roaming agreements
with other global hotspots providers allowing subscribers
unified billing and access no matter where they are
or whose network they may be using.
Still, the company said it is expecting some long-term
payoffs. In September of 2003, the Vancouver-based provider
signed and agreement with San Francisco-based Surf and
Sip to add 500 hotspots in the U.S. and the U.K.. O'Mahoney
said FatPort expects to have 2,200 roaming locations
by the end of 2004. The Wi-Fi Planet Expo and Conference
is produced by Jupitermedia, parent company of this
Web site.
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