Minneapolis is set to start up a city wide wi-fi service November '07..
While the phone and cable companies here have already whined about the unfair competition for internet provider service, there's a few ramifications that haven't been covered by the local media.
It seemed obvious to me when I first heard about the contract that the wi-fi network would allow people to drop their phone service.
Wi-fi should cost $20/mo. for 1MB/sec
Gizmo/SIP offers service for $35/yr, plus 1 cent/min. on calls in the U.S.
For 1000 minutes/mo. that breaks down to $13/mo. and that's only if you use all 1000 minutes. You don't pay for any minutes you don't use. No peak periods, no overage charges, no charge per minute to receive calls. And if you call another SIP phone, it's free. So we have $33/mo. for phone and internet anywhere in the city. $23/mo if you don't place calls and just receive them or if you place calls to SIP phones.
F3000 clamshell phone looks like a mobile phone, but works on wi-fi and allegedly has a web browser. Okay, it's $200, but that's a one-time cost. It handles roaming between APs, so it could be used as a virtual cell phone anywhere in the city. Still, it looks hard to configure for SIP. Hopefully someone will come up with a Plug-n-Dial phone by the time the wi-fi network is ready.
Either way, the Nokia 770 Internet tablet is able to work with Gizmo, and I'd be surprised if Nokia didn't have a new model out by 11/07.
Now if you can roam on the AP network, you have internet radio in your car. Maybe I'm dreaming on this one.
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