High Speed Internet - How Much is it Worth?

I’ve commented a couple of times on the emergence of free WiFi in various places, but it seems to be growing faster than I expected. The number of places offering free wireless internet connections is apparently growing exponentially. There are even whole commercial zones set up as hot spots, to encourage people to shop and dine there. I live near Long Beach California where in their downtown area you can sit at an outdoor cafe on Pine Avenue and check you e-mail or surf the net for free, compliments of the city and a consortium of businesses. Before long free WiFi will be a normal accepted cost of doing business. It will be a component of good service.

During each new phase of technological progress, the expectations of consumers ratchet up a notch. Remember when the fax machine was the necessary new thing to be in business? Then it was computers; now if a business doesn’t have a website, people are likely to get suspicious, thinking that they may not be legitimate or that they are in trouble financially. Personally I get annoyed if a business doesn’t provide at least the basic information online about their hours, directions to the place and other details about their business. My reaction is that they aren’t very serious about providing good service.

To me this proliferation of free internet service is an encouraging sign for all of us – even those who don’t use the free WiFi at this point. Why? Because it puts pressure on the big internet services to lower their prices for DSL and Cable. No matter who you are, $40 - $50 is a lot of money to spend on high speed internet service for home use - especially if you are already spending a fair amount on regular phone service, cellphone service, cable or satellite TV, etc.

Given the availability of free internet service, I can see a whole lot of people who own laptops opting for the occasional trip to the coffee shop down the street, to log on for free and check e-mail. Eventually, they may be able to get it right from their apartment if they live in an urban neighborhood where there are several businesses transmitting nearby.

It’s interesting how markets overlap, and create competition where you might not expect. Just as traditional toy makers compete for consumer dollars with the manufacturers of non-toy products, so do the sellers of home internet service now compete with commercial establishments that are giving it away for free. Internet service is rapidly becoming a commodity as the “information highway” extends to every aspect of our lives.