Look to the USA for ubiquitous free wifi access; it must only be a matter of time over here?

Mobile operators could well be shifting to a “data network provider” model, and have made big moves on the home ISP market here in the UK lately, but if the mobile phone does become a web server by default they will need to do much more, they will need to reinvent.

Note: I notice news breaking that Vodafone have walked away from an auction for Tiscalli…

Mobile phone operators will still have a place as long as they are the ones supplying the network – since they have the infrastructure in place. They will become “data network providers” rather than “mobile network providers”. I think this is already happening anyway. The only way I can see this as a true threat to the network operators is if free WIFI becomes available almost everywhere.

It’s actually pretty strange that mobile networks are moving to give users free data (internet) access as part of standard tariffs when people are using more and more data from their mobiles. When data usage overtakes phone call usages, which may occur when VOIP truely works from mobiles, I can see tariff structuring changing. We’ll be charged for data usage and not phone calls. Maybe they are trying to push data usage in an effort to making people rely on data access in the knowledge that they will charge for it in the future?