Everybody already knows Google is building their own wifi network. They probably won't be alone. Soon, others will have the opportunity to bid on pieces of the wireless spectrum.
Whether or not they go at it alone, or form a loose consortium (which they should), the opportunity is not the actual bandwidth/transport, it is what rides on top. Obvious, yes. But what could they put on top to better serve users?
Google/Amazon/Ebay/Microsoft: go ahead, borrow this idea. Tie in the ability to make voip calls on my mobile device, with search (must be local as well) and tie in a social media that allows me to see what other people near by think, on the same network. And, if you want to get creative, build in the ability to view the consolidated/aggregated opinions on topics of interest to me. A "no brainer", so add this as well.
If wifi is the connector, how do you as a business, keep users securely connected to your network, and, be able to use their online behavior to better serve up revenue generating ads? Enter a company like OTO Software. OTO is a Boulder/Austin based company. "Rumor" has it they may be in the market for funding to blow this out big time. In my spare time, I brain storm with the COO about ways to increase revenue and target on specific markets. This is an idea I ran by him not so long ago. OTO faces the classic connundrum: there is a huge demand for their product, but, the market is not aware of the "pain"; thus, while the market upside is huge, it will take either time, or a paradigm shifting event, to awaken demand for their product.
Clearly they are not going to fund the education and creation of demand in the marketplace. The should let their competitors do that. What to do if the market is inmature? Include your product as part of a widget in a well known product/application. Focus on the revenue retention/savings/generation you can create for someone else. Sales cycles will be longer, but you certainly don't need to burn valuable cash trying to educate a nascent marketplace.
One day someone like Qwest will wake up and realize that OTO's product could dramatically reduce customer churn and, save lots of money on customer service calls (usually during wireless DSL gateway installs). Heaven forbid they would actually like to improve the customer service and hold on to the only product still generating them lots of money.
