Wirelessing the World

1. CWNs are community wireless networks. They allow for "...open, freely accessible, non proprietary systems to be built utilizing the buying power and economies of scale within neighborhoods, towns, and cities (228)". In other words, CWNs residents of the community would have the ability to save money and avoid buying into profit-driven business models of wireless communication. The community can ultimately buy bandwidth in bulk and allow all members to share the wireless network. This would eventually allow for community web resources and would even bridge the "digital divide" between Internet resource rich and poor. This would occur since the CWN would be a low cost alternative provided to the entire community. Residents would not need to worry about paying for a high priced wireless Internet provider such as linksys, netgear, etc.

2. Many of the barriers to market entry which ensure that cheaper wireless alternative companies do not compete with the large companies lie within WiMax. Most of the large wireless providers are members of WiMax, and the mission of the organization is, "to promote deployment of broadband wireless access networks by using global standard and certifying interoperability of products and technologies (222)". Interoperability, or the assumption that all competing standards must be pushed aside is a big problem. We do not even realize what else is out there. In addtion, all members of the WiMax group are industry leaders, and therefore the standards that they propose in order for a company to become an established wireless network is naturally a bit high. For instance, the group has established minimum air interface performance, and all products must meet these standards.

The author also explains how service providers try to rope consumers into multi-year agreements that appear to have a discount, but in fact do not save the consumer any money at all. The most company that pops into my mind when I think about this concept is Verizon Fios. The way in which they market their monthly price of $44.95 makes it seem as if the customer is saving so much money, when in fact we are being ripped off. Organizations such as Verizon Fios are also eliminating the competition, since they offer these bundle deals and do not allow us to pursue other potential options for our wireless service.

3. Corporate consolidation and the early buying of technologies result in fewer and fewer companies controlling more and more of the wireless share because many of the major "dinosaur" companies such as Cisco, Netgear, Linksys, 3com, etc. are buying out the newer wireless companies and technologies before consumers even have a chance to discover that these smaller companies exist. The "dinosaurs" lock consumers into a system of lesser quality, but still force them to pay higher prices than their service is worth.