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May 27, 2004

T-Mobile and Comcast Produce Press Release, Hotspot

By Glenn Fleishman

Your editor has been trying to sort these story out for a couple of days: T-Mobile’s hotzone powered by Comcast broadband: The problem with a story like this is that it’s been given enormous play because it’s a major city and a large area. But it’s planned to be a paid location after the first six months, and it’s not particularly interesting as a “partnership,” because Comcast’s role is mostly marketing. Sure, they’re bringing in bandwidth, but any Internet provider would do. Likewise, T-Mobile has no other outdoor hotzones that I’m aware of, and it’s unclear what the point is of this one: a trial balloon?

The press release and coverage cites the fact that Comcast customers have access to T-Mobile’s hotspot service. Sure, and so do I: the rate, as far as I can tell, is the same. Again, marketing. I thought about not covering this at all, but it’s worth explicating the event.

Meanwhile, in cities around the country, hotzones like NewburyOpen.net in Boston and Battery Park in Manhattan are sprouting that are commercially supported free locations designed to be free indefinitely and focusing on areas with high appropriate traffic.

Posted by Glennf at May 27, 2004 12:32 PM

Categories: Hot Spot

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» T-Mobile and Comcast Announce Outdoor Hotzone on South Street in Philadelphia from Operation Gadget
Yesterday Comcast and T-Mobile announced a WiFi hotzone in Philadelphia that will be located at Headhouse Square Plaza that's the intersetion of Second and South Streets. This is the site of a historic marketplace along Philadelphia's hippest street an... [Read More]

Tracked on May 27, 2004 4:57 PM

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