Internet Connectivity Costs Money

It is the cost of Internet connectivity that can be the problem. That is where white space and MWNs come into play. Every business focuses on financial growth, thus Internet Service Providers tend to the more attractive markets and consumers, ignoring low-income areas. Face it. The cost of Internet connectivity can be pricey for some. I pay about $32 a month for DSL service. And when I first signed up, I had to sign up for long distance to be able to get the DSL package that included the router/modem, filter, and a network cable. The cost of DSL also went according to what bandwidth you wanted. So if you wanted to download at a faster rate, you would pay more. The cost of cable broadband connection is slightly pricier. Just for online services, you can pay between $29.95 and $44.95, in addition to your cable package. If you want to be wireless, you would have to purchase the standard package at $44.95 and add an additional $5.95 making a total of $50.90 a month (excluding taxes) (TWC). Comcast and Verizon can charge residents anywhere from $50 to $200 a month for Wi-Fi connection (Travis, 2006). When you bring the cost to a project like that of a MWN, costs can run from $40,000 to $74,000 per square mile just for deployment (Fesenmaier, Jain, Mandiwalla, Meyers, Smith, Weinberg, 2008). The Wireless Philadelphia project is estimated to spend $49 million to cover the entire city with a broadband wireless network (Grebb, 2005). Because of free wireless Internet connectivity, ISPs are set to loose potential customers in these vicinities. You don’t want to start uproars for disrupting profit margin lines. Loosing 100 customers at $200 a month can cost $2,400 per lost customer a year in loss revenue.

Big ISP providers will try to create a barrier of entry into the Internet connectivity market for social entrepreneur companies. The use of technology to influence technologist’s innovative minds is used to assist low income communities. Even if used for a greater social purpose, these companies don’t want you to gain competitive advantage in the market and will go to the government to sustain their ground. And with white space about to be made available February 2009, this has them nervous.

Take into consideration your monthly expenses for just Internet connectivity. With money that you can potential save, you can use it towards heating up your home, fueling up your car and buying groceries.

References:

Grebb, Michael (2005, October). Cities Unleash Free Wi-Fi. Wired. Retrieved on July 1, 2008 from http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/news/2005/10/68999?currentPage=all

Labaton, Stephen. (December 2005). Transition to Digital Gets Closer. New York Times. Retrieved on June 25, 2007 from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/20/technology/20digital.html

Technorati. Google Unwired – Larry Page on TV White Space. Retrieved on June 15, 2008 from http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D0CpRNi64Tac

TWC, Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey. Packages & Pricing. Retrieved on June 20, 2008 from http://www.timewarnercable.com/nynj/products/cable/packagesandpricing.html?menu=6907