Wi-Fi All Around

Very interesting story in the NYTimes today re Philadelphia becoming one big wireless hot spot. Many implications . . .

There are implications for ISPs (although the regulators seem prepared to protect the economic interests of corporations vs. the public), and for telcos and possibly mobile phone carriers, as Vonage and soon others will be offering VoIP in wi-fi hot spots. So if the entire city is a hot spot, I certainly don't need a landline (and maybe even a mobile carrier, though that's much less likely).

So the telcos could take a double hit if more cities got on the bandwagon. Look for the Feds to prevent this from happening. But what it confirms beyond a shadow of any doubt is that broadband is gonna be absolutely everywhere ultimately and so will all the broadband consumer behaviors.