Commercial WiFi networks over the coming years will cost telecommunications providers $12 bn in the US alone, warns Boston based Strategy Analytics. Increased competition as well as the rise of free WiFi networks are to blame, the firm says.

The outcome doesn't surprise me. There are few places in the US, and especially in Silicon Valley, where you can't pick up a WiFi signal. But unless I need an internet connection professionally, I won't be paying up to 20 dollars for one day of internet access. And until WiFi roaming is a reality, allowing T-Mobile subscribers access to Verizon's network and vice versa, I'm not going to sign up for any monthly subscription plan. We've been through this with mobile telephony – these companies by now should know better.

Strategy Analytics might state the obvious, but it's always good to add a scary multi billion dollar figure to your research conclusions.

28 Jan 2005