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September 12, 2005
Coming attractions: wireless power play
My good friend, Ron Wacks of the American Association of Microbusinesses, recently went on a Charles Kuralt sort of adventure across the country, talking to microbusiness owners about what they need, what they think and what their issues are.
One of the big microbusiness issues he heard about that gets little consistent play in the media or on Capitol Hill is the continuing need for high-speed Internet access, particularly for microbusinesses in rural areas.
However, our wonderful government is poised to kill competition in the 'Net access market by facilitating so-called competition between the giant telecos and the giant cable companies, while simultaneously chasing the smaller firms we prefer dealing with out of the market.
But thanks to the peculiar and typical intersection of technological advances and microbusiness innovation, help may be on the way.
How about wireless broadband?
According to this article in Advanced IP Pipeline, WiMAX sounds like a rural microbusiness owner's 'Net access dream. Let's just hope the politicians don't step in and screw this up for us, too.
And that's a distinct possibility. Once the micros and startups step into this market and discover a huge demand for high-speed access at affordable prices that can be delivered affordably without having to tap the telecom infrastructure, you can just bet those big boys will start chasing after the market as soon as the early adapters at both ends of the transactions have removed enough of the risk for them.
At that point, you can also bet your bottom dollar that those telecoms and cable companies will run back to Washington with some sob story about why the little guys need to be chased out of this market, too.
Sorry ... I'm feeling cynical today.
Posted by The Journal Blogger at September 12, 2005 10:32 AM
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