Todd Allcock wrote:

> I don't see how. You really can't have it both ways- on the one hand,
> you blast everyone except Verizon for not covering every rural nook and
> cranny and National or State Park in the wilderness, then on the other,
> you suggest that the WiFi which is largely only available primarily
> downtown/urban/shopping areas somehow could hurt sales of 3G.

I never said that WiFi was only available in downtown/urban/shopping
areas. In fact, it's widely available outside these areas. You're making
up a story that's not true and then accusing me of trying to have it
both ways, when in fact I never signed on to the story you made up in
the first place.

In fact WiFi is widely available outside these areas. Most inns, even
those in out of the way places, are now offering WiFi, sometime with the
router connected via satellite. Many National Parks offer Wi-Fi. It's
often not free, but there is no 3G available in these places anyway, so
even a 3G user wanting internet access would have to pay for it.

> In your
> mind, are the majority of cellular users all struggling to get a signal
> in Yosemite, or are they all clustered around the coffee shop counter
> checking email? They can't be in both places at once! ;-)

Yosemite has excellent wireless coverage via Golden State Cellular, as
long as you have a tri-mode CDMA/AMPS phone. They also have Wi-Fi in the
valley, see "http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/internet.htm".

But back to AT&T free wireless for DSL customers, and how it impacts 3G.

The areas of the country covered by 3G will almost always have a
Starbucks around. For someone that just needs casual access while away
from home, and isn't depending on ubiquitous access, having AT&T
Wireless service included at no extra cost as part of their DSL service
may in fact cause them to decide to not bother with getting 3G service
at $60/month. In fact, I was considering signing up for Sprint 3G
service on a SERO plan, but now I won't bother. I didn't even know about
the included AT&T WiFi when I signed up for AT&T DSL. They just recently
extended this down to all but the lowest tier of service.


[alt.cellular.cingular re-removed, Cingular no longer exists, also AT&T
DSL doesn't allow posting to both groups at the same time! Apparently
they are on different servers]