Well, part of downtown Pittsburgh is going wireless: Telerama, an ISP, made a deal with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to cover 14 blocks downtown with Wi-Fi. Users will be able to access info about theaters and other cultural spaces in the area for free and full Internet access will cost $5 a day or $30 a month.
While clearly business people can use the network, Telerama specifically targets neighborhoods and campuses for the more "casual" user. It already offers service in coffee shops, bars, restaurants, theaters and health clubs in Pittsburgh. I think they'll really have to spell out why people other than business users will want to use the networks because I don't think Joe laptop user walking down the street will understand why he would want to get online in the health club.
Unlike some of the big hot spot operatorsm, Telerama actually pays hot spot locations to become hot spots. I wonder if that means Telerama has a different revenue sharing model than some of the other folks.
It's less the "guy walking down the street" and more "the guy sitting at home wishing he had real internet speed ... RIGHT NOW." Get up, get out, and in 5 minutes be cruising into the broadband sky while enjoying a latte on the side.
The revenue share means we can attract all sorts of different hotspots to the model in a hurry, and turn around a provide a large number of locations to our users.
Our first concentration is on the "technology worker" within their own city. Provide them with a large choice of venues, places they would want t o bring their laptops and surf at high speed. Business users can also take advantage of the coverage with a low $4.95/day fee. A win for both of those constiuencies.
I am a university student in Pittsburgh right now. Telerama has been piloting its wireless access at cafes and restaurants in the city for a long time and just recently started charging for it. I see lots of young professionals using the service in cafes but the downtown area is not really where these people hang out. I hope Teleram isn't banking on getting the bulk of their revenue from users in that area.
Telerama guy: I think $5/day is way too much but I don't use the service so what do I know? (Free wireless on campus.)
I have talked to more than one shopowner who is annoyed by Telerama users lurking in their cafes, having one coffee over 3 hours of surfing. Now that they are charging, maybe the shopowners can get their cut.