I think it's pretty common around the world - the Swedish telco converted their phone booths to Wifi hotspots back in 2007. Cheap fast LTE has taken over though and they're finally removing all phone booths by 2015.
I'm surprised they're removing wifi enabled phone booths. WiFi offload is growing in importance in congested mobile network regions[1], although perhaps phone booths don't necessarily have fast enough network links to meaningfully offload enough load (yet).
If these type of pilot projects pan out then cities could eye this as a potential revenue stream if somebody isn't already paying for phone booth street locations on a recurring basis.
Although there's still some way to go before we reach clean WiFi & cell tower call hand-offs, just having the initial ability to make calls over WiFi via the 'branded' voice application will be huge for traditional wireless carriers, although also opens up the playing field for urban-only WiFi carriers.[2]
The 'branded' voice application on your smartphones will soon be just that when VoLTE is deployed more widely[1]. VoLTE = Voice over LTE, which could just as easily be Voice over WiFi. The upcoming battle for which app you launch when you want to make voice calls is slowly creeping up on us, since voice is still one of the stickiest phone applications.
kalleboo|11 years ago
otoburb|11 years ago
If these type of pilot projects pan out then cities could eye this as a potential revenue stream if somebody isn't already paying for phone booth street locations on a recurring basis.
Although there's still some way to go before we reach clean WiFi & cell tower call hand-offs, just having the initial ability to make calls over WiFi via the 'branded' voice application will be huge for traditional wireless carriers, although also opens up the playing field for urban-only WiFi carriers.[2]
The 'branded' voice application on your smartphones will soon be just that when VoLTE is deployed more widely[1]. VoLTE = Voice over LTE, which could just as easily be Voice over WiFi. The upcoming battle for which app you launch when you want to make voice calls is slowly creeping up on us, since voice is still one of the stickiest phone applications.
[1] http://www.spotonnetworks.com/rcr-wireless-discusses-wifi-of...
[2] http://www.bna.com/wifi-once-lifeline-n17179890780/