John Navas <spamfilter1@navasgroup.com> wrote in
news:reen13ljq5uav13e29d72647lq5f0f1u05@4ax.com:

> On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:03:15 -0700, "Tinman" <ask@for.it> wrote in
> <581qvbF2evo31U1@mid.individual.net>:
>
>>"John Navas" wrote:
>>>
>>> The price point for handset (not tethered) data seems to be $10-20
>>> per month. Tethered data seems likely to stay at a premium over
>>> wired broadband, $40-80 per month.
>>
>>That's a rather big range. At $80 it will remain a niche market--a
>>shrinking market if WiFi coverage gets larger.
>
> Those price ranges cover ranges of speed and capability, just as
> pricing varies in the wired market. I could easily see full
> HSDPA/EV-DO speed only at the high end of the price range, with capped
> speed at the low end of the price range, and even $80 as a viable
> option with that kind of speed. Wi-Fi is too balkanized to really
> compete with the flexibility and ubiquitousness of fast 3+G data.
> WiMAX might be a different story, especially given all the money
> Sprint is throwing at it, but mobile WiMAX is still a long way off (at
> best).


And you base this on what? Sprint is specifically markrting WiMax as a
mobile solution and not initially intending it as a replacement for
hardwired broadband. HSDPA does not show the performance of EVDO rev.2 in
terms of performance, and therefore would be hard pressed to command a
premium price when EVDO and WiMax buildouts are completed. Cingular has
come out and said that they are "a few years" from having a truly high
speed broadband offering or anything approaching a 4G product.

>
>>In addition, the "must have a plan" thing is getting old. Like Stephan
>>wrote, I also encounter WiFi, or wired Ethernet, in most of my
>>business traveling. There is no way I'll be willing to pay $80 a month
>>for the few times WiFi isn't available--not even $40 per month.
>
> Different strokes I guess -- like most of the people I know, I too
> often find I can't get Wi-Fi or wired Internet, and don't see the need
> to have a data package as much of an issue (especially if business
> picks up the tab), which is why I'm now happily using HSDPA for much
> (most?) of my Internet access.

And yet Sprint is talking about treating WiMax as a subscription based
offering, much like current ISP's. They have publicly stated that WiMAx
will not be subject to the same rules as current wireless technology. Of
course, this means the probable end to equipment subsidies, but the ability
to come and go as you please will be hard to ignore.Cingular ends up
looking very archaic and pedestrian by comparison.