Change is in the Air

Last night, my friend Zhon and I were looking for a place to do some work on a presentation he and Kay were preparing for. Unexpectedly, we ended up working at my local grocery store bistro department, because they had free WiFi access. This got me thinking about infrastructure.

Infrastructure is expensive. We in the U.S. frequently forget this. I lived in the Dominican Republic for a couple of years from 1988-1990. In one apartment, we had been waiting for a regular analog phone line for over a year, when our next-door neighbor (who had a phone) told us to give it up. Their local switch was "maxed out", and the struggling-not-to-be-third-world utility company couldn't add any more... so we had to wait until someone got rid of theirs, which... because it took a long time to get a new one... wasn't going to happen. (Because people kept the phone line going when they moved houses, knowing it would be impossible to get a new one).

Similarly, in my current home, I am unable to get high-speed DSL service for a slightly different reason (the local telephone company switch... and the distance to it). This has led me to pursue other options. And thankfully, there are other options. Okay... here's a quick quiz. Which signal transmission is cheaper: Copper wire, optical fibre, or ether? No, not "either".... "ether". Ether is nothing. Literally... nothing. And nothing is free (my momma tol' me so). You can't beat using nothing for free to get the job done.

These days, the advent of cell phones has dramatically reduced the cost of creating infrastructure (although the prices charged by wireless companies don't necessarily reflect that fact). The use of cell phones is exploding in developing countries... here in the US portable phones and gadgets (I'm thinking iPhone here) offer data and voice services with increasing speed, variety and ease-of-use. There's even a wireless solution to my "I can't get DSL" problem now. (7 Mbps over the air! Wahoo!)

If you follow the tech news, you'll be aware that the rights to use the 700 MHz frequency range of the electromagnetic spectrum are about to be auctioned off by the FCC to the highest bidder, and that regardless of who wins, "open access" rules apply: Meaning, anyone is supposed to be able to connect their device (regardless of vendor) to the network. Google and some other unusual tech players are in the running to own this spectrum. What does it mean?

I think it means things are about to change. I think in a few years you won't think about who your phone company is, or your long distance company, or your cable company, or your ISP. Take a moment to dream about buying any mobile phone you want, getting any video channel lineup you want, and choosing any combination of providers of services on "the net"... and then slap yourself back to reality, because we're not there yet, pal.