Starbucks and T-Mobile
Wireless technology is wonderful stuff but some people are not "getting it"
Case in point as reported by
Ars Technica:
bq. Wireless hotspots are the Big Thing right now. One much-ballyhooed tie-in was Starbucks and T-Mobile's partnership to bring for-pay wireless hotspots to U.S. Starbucks locations. You can sip your Triple Red-Eye (Venti Coffee of the Day with three shots of Espresso for the caffeine-impaired) while paying by the hour (or monthly) to surf the 'Net and read e-mail.
And how much are they making?
bq. Deutsche Telekom reported gross earnings of US$1.4 million per month for their Hotspots in the US, up from US$400,000 in January 2003.
bq. When one does the math, the numbers are not at all impressive: about US$13 per Hotspot, per day or roughly US$400 per month
Considering that these sites are hosted on a T1 (about $400/month) and then there is the ancillary equipment lease charges and support costs... A number of local coffeehouses have been providing free access using a much cheaper DSL connection and SOHO designed equipment (routers and transmitters). Same basic performance except for some latency issues and a total hardware cost of about $300 and monthly fee of about $60.
Guess who gets the laptops...
Posted by DaveH at March 29, 2004 11:20 PM