Michael Gurstein on Wed, 29 Aug 2001 08:45:31 +0200 (CEST) |
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<nettime> 'Parasitic (synergistic) grid' wireless movement may threaten telecom profits |
This below is potentially a very important development for a number of reasons, not least that most major Telecom companies and particularly the European telcos have gone seriously into hock (debt) to purchase the frequencies for 3G wireless services. These telcos have entered into multi-billion dollar/deutchemark/franc/guilder etc.etc. contracts with state telecom regulatory authories based on projected sales/valuations. It was reported elsewhere (the WSJ) recently that the respective governments have been relaxing the conditions of payment for these contracts (try that one with your local tax authority) presumably so as not to precipitate Telco bankruptcies and the chain of related bankruptcies and disruptions which would ensue up (towards their lending bankers) and down (to their suppliers and end user customers) the "value chain". According to the report on the relaxation of payment terms, this was based on the evident delays in the development of applications/markets for 3G wireless... One wonders how what follows below plays in this context (i.e. impacts the underlying business model of the Telcos as being monopoly providers of the 3G wireless frequencies) and what the effect might be if the market were not simply delayed but rather to be "subverted/diverted" in the longer term. Hmm... Mike Gurstein http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/08/24/010824hnfreewireless.xml?0 828tuunknown 'Parasitic grid' wireless movement may threaten telecom profits By Ephraim Schwartz August 24, 2001 4:34 pm PT AN UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT to deploy free wireless access zones in metropolitan areas is taking hold. If it turns out to be successful, wireless network operators may be fighting against a grounds-up movement that could undermine their multibillion-dollar campaign to offer next-generation 3G (third-generation) wireless services in major metro areas. # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net