The following article comes from the February 13, 2014 edition of The Verge. We thought some of you would find it interesting, especially in light of the recent demise of what we all once called Net Neutraility.
Microsoft and Google reportedly partnering with cable companies to expand Wi-Fi access
Some of the biggest cable and technology companies in the US are apparently putting together an unlikely partnership. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google and Microsoft are joining up with Charter, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable to launch a coalition to expand public Wi-Fi access. WifiForward, as the coalition is said to be named, would seek to lobby the government to free up more spectrum that could be used for Wi-Fi to free up networks that will undoubtably get more congested in the coming years. Despite the ubiquity of LTE-capable smartphones, Cisco says that 57 percent of mobile data traffic in the US is carried over Wi-Fi — and as data usage increases in coming years, Wi-Fi spectrums will get more and more crowded.
The makeup of companies rumored to be involved in this coalition is notable — the cable companies, particularly Comcast, have had wireless aspirations in the past, and more Wi-Fi access certainly makes Microsoft and Google’s cloud-based software much more useful. Its also worth noting that there aren’t any wireless carriers like Verizon or AT&T involved in WifiForward. Now that Verizon and AT&T’s LTE networks are more mature and generally less congested than their 3G networks were a few years ago, Wi-Fi access appears to be less of a priority. AT&T in particular had built a network of 32,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to help ease the pressure the iPhone and other smartphones brought to its wireless network, but now that unlimited data is a thing of the past, the carriers have a big incentive to push customers to use (and pay) for as much wireless data as they can.
This news comes just as Comcast announced plans to acquire Time Warner Cable, one of the rumored partners in this new coalition. Whether or not that deal will affect WifiForward remains to be seen, but we should know more about the partnership before long — the WSJ says that details should be announced today.
The above article is from The Verge, you can read the article at http://goo.gl/peU4zK
Somehow, this news re the Comcast/Time Warner union doesn’t give me a “warm and fuzzy” feeling.
I smell a rat, and I think increased WiFi is a public diversion. Comcast is the largest cable company for TV access.
Acquisition of Time Warner will just make them even larger…….a monopoly poised to “tuck it” to the consumer
again. This time on steroids, and not very different from what the ISP’s could do to Internet.
Makes me want to “run like hell” away from all those “triple play” plans. Internet/TV/Phone
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/comcast-adds-another-piece-in-media-plan/?_php=true&_type=blogs&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140214&_r=0
I don’t know if you can access the above link or not – it’s a New York Times article on the same item. This is getting scarier than I like to contemplate. Unlimited access to Wi-Fi and the net are still available to a few of us (we still have it) but only until you need a new phone; and we all know these phones have built-in “I’m gonna die” dates. This new development is going to limit my access to the net because I can’t afford to pay. So feel good you two because, other than my email which I need for work, you’ll be the only site I go to.