Where's the Wi-Fi?

The Wi-Fi roll out in London grinds on. In the US, there were no shortage of decent cafes offering free Wi-Fi access. In London, we are still limited to the odd Costa Coffee, Starbuck's rather pricey deal, and T-Mobile.
Near our office, Benugo, purveyor of shockingly expensive sandwiches and salads, lets you have (an hours?) free access with any order over £2..which is
Now, BT is planning to wholesale its Openzone product...which should help matters, but will still (I think) result in mainly paid for access. Meanwhile, as Neil pointed out in Online the other week, there are a lot of questions being asked about whether Wi-Fi really is the next big thing
Why does it matter? Well, yes...it's a personal thing. But, I think it's all part of London becoming a smarter working city (and by 'smarter' I mean more brainy). The truth is, we're not all going to work from home. But, that doesn't mean we all have to remain chained to our desks (partcularly when it's 32 degrees and you've go no air conditioning). And these days, we are nothing without a network connection.
As Neil's piece points out, I don't think there's billions in it for BT/ T-Mobile etc from Hotspots. Frankly, when it comes to paying, people rarely have the combination of an absolute need to be connected/ a Wi-Fi card/ enough cash/ and no other wired PCs within easy grasp, that will make them want to get their wallets out.
But, I do think there's a decent return to be made by anyone who gets business punters in between meals (ie: they're having meetings, or just killing time) in to offer it free with food and drink.
Who knows what waifs and strays of new business they might attract if they make a big deal of it.

Comments

[Matt]

Paul Boutin in this months WiReD:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/start.html?pg=4

[Gavin Bell]

This is an interesting theme in the wifi industry, it is perfect for local sharing, but doesn't scale well. there is not enough arpu, to use a mobile phone term, per customer to support the management of more that one or two sites from wifi access. Free wifi with purchase would make me go to that cafe instead of another if I needed internet access.
Another problem with this is that there are not that many people who carry a wifi laptop out to lunch. Outside of a small group of people who carry a laptop everywhere, most people do not have the need for regular persistent internet access. This may change next year, given the huge centrino push from Intel and Apple offering built-in Wifi with everything.
Perhaps free wifi is a way for the independents to thrive and offer some thing different from Starbucks, then they'd have cheaper coffee and free wifi

[Simon]

You're right about the scaling issues..and the lack of people with laptops heading out to lunch.

It really is a slightly geeky/ yuppie (guppy?) kind of thing...and it's also for breakfast - 12pm, and afternoonn.

Take Benugo's on St John Street in London - where they've installed free wi-fi. Regardless of that, at any time in the middle of the morning, there's always half a dozen little meetings going on there, along with a few people working on their own. Whether or not they use the Wi-fi doesn't really matter...it's just a much, much nicer way to work.

My interests, are of course, completely selfish.

[Matt Obrian]

It really is a slightly geeky/ yuppie (guppy?) kind of thing...and it's also for breakfast - 12pm, and afternoonn. -- Right ?