US Telcos don’t like WiFi sharing

Posted by Simon Perry on 10 July 2002 at 8:35 am | Tagged as: Distribution

The broadband providers in the US have now caught on to the idea that some of their subscribers are freely sharing their Internet connections with other member of the public via WiFi and they don’t like it. These Telcos are sending out cease and desist letters to people who have listed themselves as available WiFi HotSpots on sites such as NYCwireless with threats to cut their Internet connection off if they don’t stop.

I would imagine someone in the Telcos have just woken up to the idea that they could be charging the people currently benefiting from the free service.

I envisage a lot more threatening letters and potentially, in the case of BT in the UK, a change of broadband contract terms that will newly exclude people doing this. O2, BT’s spun-out wireless company, see wireless access as a revenue generator, they don’t want it being given away by their own subscribers.