ForProfit - the side of the debate that wants to pay $49.95 / month for Cable modem or DSL and resell it to 10 people nearby for $20 / month and line their fat wallets with much needed insulative lining.

• Actually so long as the wireless network remains open to the public I don't really object to this, my main concern is people that want to charge $X/hour for access and not allow the public at random access. -- Adam.

I can think of a few possible businesses one could set up in a large wireless network, without denying public random access.

• Provide live coverage of events (concerts, lectures, bands playing at clubs, awards dinners) with web cams and microphones. This service would be paid for by the event organizers. If the event coverage chewed up a lot of bandwidth, the organizers would be charged for that too -- that approaches a slippery slope of encroaching on the access available to non-paying network users.

• On-air yellow pages: A mobile user has a wireless PDA with GPS in it. He contacts a database, gives his lat/long, and asks for nearby Thai restaurants. The minimum information about a restaurant would be the location, name, and a few keywords (Thai, restaurant). If they pay for advertising, they could list a menu or a pointer to a newspaper review. Similar things for other businesses.

• Sell, install and maintain equipment for organizations. I was thinking that for long hops (city-to-city) you'd want microwave dishes on poles or towers. This might be too expensive for an individual, but a club or group might pool funds and hire somebody to put a dish up. -- WillWare

[CategoryPhilosophy]