AT&T Also Betting on WiFi?

I’ve got a long bet that WiFi will take over our telecom. Voice, video, everything.

It’s cheap, it’s unlicensed, it’s nearly ubiquitious and both 802.11[a-z] and the wired broadband to those wireless points is getting faster and faster.

For years now I’ve been a fan of T-Mobile’s HotSpot@Home program where calls originating within a WiFi network don’t count against the monthly minute plan. I found this program to have an interesting side-effect:

“Additionally, if I’m not within a wifi network, I’m probably driving or otherwise not able to talk.”

Cringely says this mixed network technology is why AT&T acquired T-Mobile.

“Clever use of other people’s bandwidth can add an order of magnitude to AT&T’s connectivity and backhaul for no marginal price at all. Suddenly the network expands, coverage gaps go away, yet backhaul bandwidth actually drops. Look for it.” – Cringely