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New Business Trends  Internet Business
What is a Hotspot?
Find out more about a Cyberspace Renaissance as Technology Journalist, Toby Bennett, explores the phenomenon of free coffee and free internet access.
Oh, sure it’s been happening in other countries for a while now - uninterrupted streaming videos, coffee and internet, a bagel and blue tooth all at lightening speed and little or no cost, but what about those of us in Telkom’s web? Well up to now we’ve not had much choice but to take what we are given, but that could all be about to change. 2009 is a year in which many factors will be coming together which could spell opportunity for anyone ready to grasp it.
Since October 2008 the Seacom undersea fibre optic cables that will link southern and east Africa, Europe and south Asia have been snaking their way towards us and are on schedule to boost Africa’s connectivity by the middle of this year. Add to this the EASSy cables that will fibre optically link all the countries in East Africa to the rest of the world by 2010 and you are really cooking with gas. Indeed both MTN and Neotel have been quick to focus on these developments and are jointly building a link to these new cables worth two billion rands, which in their own words will be more reliable than existing Telkom networks and “almost infinite” in their capacity.
So to cut a very long and exciting story short, Africa is about to really take off when it comes to its capacity to communicate. About time too, for the last two years I have had to moan about the fact that when I was in London a British Telecom line was eight meg standard while we still have to pay through the nose for four! However before we start celebrating finally getting into the club the most important question is how SMEs can take advantage of this new cyberspace renaissance.
The most obvious benefit is that things are going to get cheaper and close on the heels of that fact is this one; more people and therefore more customers are going to start using the net. Africa is one of the fastest developing markets when it comes to electronic communications, sure that’s because we have a lot of ground to make up but at the same time change is always the herald of opportunity. As the penetration of the African market increases (and with a unrivalled potential for growth coupled with falling prices and increasing capacity it can hardly not) Africa will become another valued outlet for many of the worlds communication giants like Huawei Technologies, blackberry or Ericsson. There is every chance that there will be retail opportunities, local promotional opportunities and a fair number of international brands interested in our increased capacity.
However it is not just speed and capacity that are going to increase it is coverage. On the African continent the traditional problem has always been the vast distances that must be covered using dilapidated infrastructures and unreliable networks. These days though advances in wireless technology such as EVDO and WiMax mean that that often elusive last mile can now be covered wirelessly and the new networks backing the wireless technology up we may be finally looking at the chance to bring much of Africa into the global village in a way that has not seemed possible until now. If the speed with which Africa adopted the cell phone is any thing to go by (there are now 235 million cell phone users in sub-Saharan Africa) then cheaper more reliable internet may well give rise to a rapidly expanding market.
Of course you don’t have to be directly involved in the online industry or even on the technological side of the market to tap into the profits represented by these new developments and this growing market. With it seeming likely that more and more people will be buying smart phones, net books and portable networking devices and an upswing in the number of people prepared to do business on the move and in more social settings. Many smaller businesses like guest houses, coffee shops and restaurants are following the international precedent and becoming hotspots, offering their customers WIFI connectivity and convenience.
The hotspot revolution has already begun, with companies like Skyrove and ispot offering hot-spot in box style solutions to their customers. Now a days becoming a hotspot and sharing your connectivity for profit seems as simple as linking a box that will cost you less than R900 into your existing network. Both companies offer you the chance to partner with them in an arragment that means you will be able to generate revenue through your new hotspot while pleasing your customers and attracting business with a service which will increasingly come to be expected. Remember there was once a time when you couldn’t phone ahead to make a restaurant booking, soon you may well simply not be able to compete if you can’t provide your customers the connectivity they need.
The business model used by these hot spot providers follows the same simple pattern, you buy their box which links your customers to the internet. Then the customer is able to either buy time on the service provider’s respective websites or purchase vouchers from the hotspot venue. You are given a percentage of what your customer spends. As the hotspot provider and venue owner you are also able to offer a certain amount of connectivity free, which illustrates the second advantage of this business model not only are you free to choose the level of profit you want to make from the service but you are protected from the customer who nurses a small cup of coffee for the two hours it takes him to download the Star wars trilogy at your expense.
Being ahead of the curve when it comes to recognizing the potential of WIFI connectivity when i can be beneficial in other respects, Skyrove’s older clients are already getting 70% of the cost of bandwidth used as opposed to 50% for newer users, so you might be able to benefit by getting involved in the market now rather than waiting until you need the hotspot service providers more than they need you.
As the technological landscape shifts these opportunities are likely to go from opportunities to necessities, with anyone even vaguely connected to the service industry being obliged to offer connectivity if they want to satisfy their customers. For many of us it is not a question of if we add this string to our bows but when, the future is finally beginning to catch up with our expectations and with a flood of tourists due in 2010 and more and more people doing their business on the run from their virtual offices it may well be time to look at how your business could benefit from becoming a hotspot.
This article has been archived under IT & Technology and Internet Business for your research purposes
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