iPhone could drive citywide Wi-Fi

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Apple's iPhone and other Wi-Fi enabled handsets coming into the market could boost demand for citywide Wi-Fi networks, said experts Tuesday at the MuniWireless conference.

As cell phone operators push their 3G data services, new cell phones outfitted with Wi-Fi capability are also being introduced. Apple's iPhone was one of the first to reach the American market. And so far the phone has gotten rave reviews for Web surfing when it's on a Wi-Fi network. Conversely, critics have complained about the painfully slow surfing on AT&T's 2.5G cellular network. (The iPhone does not operate on a 3G wireless network, which is considerably faster than a 2.5G network.)

Bill Gurley, a general partner at the venture capital firm Benchmark Capital, told conference attendees that the Wi-Fi enabled iPhone, along with Research in Motion's newly announced Blackberry 8820 and other Wi-Fi enabled handsets will help drive the need for citywide Wi-Fi networks.

"The devices are coming," he said. "Most chip companies will soon be embedding Wi-Fi and 3G cellular capability into their chips, which will make just about every phone out there Wi-Fi capable."

Up until recently, most people using a citywide Wi-Fi network have done so using a Wi-Fi enabled laptop or PC. EarthLink built a whole business model on selling Wi-Fi broadband service as a replacement for DSL or cable modem service. The company also targeted some nomadic users, who would also typically connect to the networks using laptops. But this strategy has proved to be difficult, and EarthLink has greatly scaled back its citywide Wi-Fi plans.

But with Wi-Fi enabled cell phones users could benefit from true broadband mobile Web surfing, which would likely drive demand for the service.

Ken Biba, managing director at Novarum, a consulting firm that independently tests wireless broadband networks, said that in some cities the Wi-Fi networks are outperforming the carriers' 3G networks. For example, he noted the iPhone can connect at faster speeds over the Wi-Fi network in cities like St. Cloud, Fla., and Toronto much faster than other handsets can connect using a major carrier's 3G cellular network.

"In a city where Wi-Fi is deployed right, it can create a real paradigm shift," he said.

And with 1.39 million iPhones already in the market, according to Apple, demand will likely continue to grow.

Karl Garcia, a technical staff member at Google who is helping run the citywide Wi-Fi network deployed by Google in Mountain View, Calif., said that there are roughly 850 iPhones connecting to the city's free Wi-Fi network every day.

T-Mobile USA, the smallest of the four major operators, is already leveraging Wi-Fi, and could also be tied to citywide efforts. This summer it launched a service that allows people to switch between Wi-Fi and cellular.

[seattlesparks--2008]

iPhone first with WiFi?

Uhm, okay. I am an iPhone user and I do love the phone, no <br />question. But one of the first WiFi-capable handsets to reach US <br />shores?<br /><br />While Blackberries have been notably lacking in WiFi support <br />until very recently, many -- indeed, most -- Windows Mobile <br />based smartphones have had WiFi support. Almost any HTC-<br />built smartphone (T-Mobile MDA, several that Sprint use, etc.) <br />has supported WiFi. I grant you the WiFi support is not user-<br />friendly or easy-to-use, but it is /there/ nonetheless, for things <br />like web-browsing and e-mail and instant messaging.

[sportav]

iPhone first with WiFi?

Uhm, okay. She wrote, "Apple's iPhone was ONE of the first to reach <br />the American market." And those "Windows Mobile based <br />smartphones" are really sweeping the nation.

[RatchetandClank]

yeah no way

the iphone may have wifi, but im pretty sure they've been putting wifi in cell phones since the days of "b". no way is it "one of the first" to include wifi. I can name like 20 off my head

[kool_skatkat]

If you know, name

If you know, name the products so that we can do some research and compare the device and see what Wi-Fi was used for? If at all it was usable, battery life, net-surfing, etc..

[stuxstu]

Uh... Please

Common, you can not seriously post this crap: "one of the first with wifi". Please I have wifi on my pda phone now for 4 or 5 years. Whats next claiming that the Toyota Corrola is one of the first cars?<br /><br />Take a refresher on researching an article and also you may want to try to actually post fair reports. You zeal for all things Apple is a little over the top. CNet is becoming a joke as a news organization.

[kool_skatkat]

Which one?

If you know, name the products so that we can do some research and compare the device and see what Wi-Fi was used for? If at all it was usable, battery life, net-surfing, etc..

[wmurphy67]

Wi-Fi substitution for cell towers

Citiwide Wi-Fi will have a greater effect when the technology <br />develops to allow seamless integration between cell towers and <br />hotspots. Just as my phone jumps from one tower to another <br />tower while I'm driving (generally seamless), we will soon see a <br />phone jumping from cell tower to Wi-Fi then to cell tower, <br />depending on signal strengths. I think a company in Cincinnati <br />is already experimenting, although the technological hurdles <br />must be imposing. I'd take a simple option for VoIP over Wi-Fi <br />or cell when initiating or receiving a call without the ability to <br />jump between the two during the call. My house and work both <br />have great Wi-Fi and non-existent cell reception.

[technewsjunkie]

Excellent! I want Internet access everywhere.

Gimmie, gimmie.

[NewsReader_]

Gotta hand it to Apple

What other company on earth could convince over 1 million people to pay a premium price for a phone tied to a single carrier and a slow, obsolete network? Don't forget the two year service agreement.<br /><br />The iPhone is cool but not that cool (for me anyway). It is ahead of its time in regards to leveraging Wifi. If it had 3G I would probably own one but my Blackjack, while dull in comparison, can run cicles around the iPhone.<br /><br />Broader WiFi availability spells doom for existing mobile networks because VOIP would render them useless. Imagine a only having to pay a low monthly access fee for Wifi and a Vonage account on your mobile phone tied to your house phone? Why would you ever put up with a celluar company and thier inflated contracts? No wonder Sprint is trying to shut them down. They see the end coming. BPL (broadband over powerlines) will likely be the catalyst for widespread WiFi.<br /><br />iPhone 2.0... I'm there.

[Earthlin]

Not the first but...

The iPhone may be not the first phone with Wi-Fi but as with many <br />many things Apple made a previously handicapped component of <br />the other phones, useful and easy to use especially with full-<br />fledged Safari.

[basraw]

Forget Iphone - Archos 604/605 WiFi is where it is at...

I love mine, I'd love free WiFi every where with it..<br /><br />I just log into unsecured networks.

[trident3b]

well, I think it will be some time (if ever) before 2.4GHz wifi networks can offer a mobile VoIP network, and I doubt you'll ever see it (wifi to your car) working and hopping wifi cells the way cell phones do. For wifi to work licence free at 2.4GHz the rule was only at <br />e x t r e m e l e y low power (which it is. More than 2 or 3 concrete walls and it is dead). That kills the mobile use of it in cars. It's just too weak, by law. Then there is the problem of wifi channel contention which cell phones don't suffer (the cell phone network was designed for millions of users at the same time right from the outset with an infrastructure costing 100s of millions). With VoIP you do have a point in principle, only try loading skype and my understanding is that it is blocked so that you are forced to use the expensive cell networks for regular phone calls after all. So artificial problems compound the issue. The telcos don't want you talking via VoIP (and hence did a deal with apple that blocks e.g. skype) even at Starbucks or a free hotspot. PC yes, iPhone with skpe (I have been told) no. I think regular cell phone telcos will be around for a while,with wifi, in the free 2.5GHz band, being no threat at all and making (sadly and because of technical challenges) no difference to the way we will conduct mobile voice calls for many many years.