Want to know what would crack the Wi-Fi monetization problem and launch Wi-Fi as the next landslide wireless moneymaker? Hardly a week goes by without someone, somewhere asking me for advice. And – I have to say – compared to 2 years ago, things are looking a lot more promising!
The business model is called ‘Not free but included’. It will work for anyone with content and services that need to be delivered to any Wi-Fi device. The idea of course is to get content & service companies to pay out a small revenue share to Wi-Fi service providers – perhaps a few cents per download or a couple of dollars a month or per GB – to offer services over their Wi-Fi networks.
I’m talking here not about carriers but about online content & service providers like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Netflix, Facebook, Uber, the list goes on.
Here are more of the salient points:
Yes – content providers are looking for new channels for delivery of their service into consumers’ pockets. Wi-Fi is simply the least costly way of doing that. So why should they pay if they can get the carriers to do this for free, you ask?
I believe consumers want and prefer ‘free’ Wi-Fi. They want it everywhere they can get it. I also believe content providers will sell more content/services and get more competitive by including ‘free’ Wi-Fi with their services.
Big changes in tech come about when certain very specific conditions appear. Here some of the conditions that I think are triggering this: App & device technology for managing Wi-Fi connectivity is developing fast (read about it here). Service providers are bringing Wi-Fi networks together by the millions – read this about iPass & Devicescape’s 50 million hotspot network.
Also, advancements in Wi-Fi speeds are outpacing mobile by a long shot – just see Quantenna’s 10 Gbps announcement from last week here. And for the first time ever in Wi-Fi companies like Ruckus and Mimosa are making near-blanket coverage of Wi-Fi in cities possible. And there are others, too.
But here’s more good news: We may not need to worry too much about Wi-Fi’s Achilles’ Heel, blanket coverage. Why? Because of this simple fact:
By far most wireless Internet usage is nomadic, not mobile. In fact, we’ve trained our kids to hunt for Wi-Fi networks. There’s a big new generation out there who cares little for telephones.
This is true everywhere, but perhaps the biggest opportunity right now lies in emerging markets. Wi-Fi certainly holds the potential to connect the next billion users with either ‘free’ or dirt-cheap Internet access in Africa, Asia, & elsewhere. The ‘trick’ of course is to combine Wi-Fi with fibre rollouts & intelligent point-to-multipoint backhaul Wi-Fi radios. It can certainly be done.
Investors are starting to pay attention. The money-folks are starting to understand that it is getting harder and harder for the mobile industry to grow. It’s a techno-economic issue: The cost per unit bandwidth of mobile is simply too big to sustain growth. Expect another big hike in data usage after Apple’s recent launches.
Please share your thoughts on this! Comments welcome 🙂
/Claus
For more on this and all things public Wi-Fi don’t miss Wi-Fi NOW the conference in Amsterdam this fall! Go check out our program now and make sure you register to meet all the innovators & entrepreneurs making public Wi-Fi happen NOW.
