Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Verizon to Turn Pay Phones into Wi-Fi Hot Spots, Reports Say

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 08:46:42 -0400

Verizon to Turn Pay Phones into Wi-Fi Hot Spots, Reports Say

Verizon Communications could announce, as early as this week, plans to
provide wireless access to the Internet through some of its 300,000 public
telephones in the U.S. In response to a question after a speech at Stevens
Institute of Technology conference, Verizon Vice Chairman and President
Lawrence T. Babbio said that the company plans to equip some pay phones to
allow mobile computer users to connect wirelessly to the Internet, but gave no
details about the service. Bell Canada is testing providing Wi-Fi hot spot
service at pay phones in Toronto and Montreal.

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Verizon to Offer Wireless Web Link Via Pay Phones
Firm Heating Up Competition With Cable

By Christopher Stern
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 10, 2003; Page E01

Verizon Communications Inc. plans to announce next week that it will equip some of its
more than 300,000 public telephones
with the ability to offer wireless access to the Internet, part of its ongoing effort to
build up its position as a major Internet
provider.

The move is the latest of several by Verizon this year as it attempts to compete more
aggressively with the cable industry's
high-speed data services. Verizon recently decided to move forward with plans to cut its
monthly rates for high-speed Internet
service by as much as 40 percent.

Verizon officials declined to comment on their wireless Internet strategy yesterday, or to
say how much the new service would
cost. Vice Chairman Lawrence T. Babbio Jr. discussed the plans generally at an industry
conference in New York.

Sources familiar with Verizon's efforts said the wireless Internet connections, commonly
known as WiFi, or wireless fidelity,
hotspots, will be added to public telephones in high-traffic areas such as hotel lobbies
and airports. The technology allows
anyone with a computer equipped with a special antenna to connect to the Internet within
the general vicinity of the hotspot,
usually about 150 feet.

"This tells me that they are finally getting up to speed with all the technological
developments swirling around Verizon." said
Cynthia Brumfield, president of Broadband Intelligence Inc., a Bethesda-based Internet
research firm.

Verizon said this year that it will expand the reach of its high-speed digital subscriber
line (DSL) service. By the end of the year,
Verizon is planning to make DSL service available to 24 million homes, up from the 19
million it can now serve.

Verizon has 1.3 million DSL customers, far behind several cable companies, including
Comcast Corp, which has 4 million
broadband customers, and Time Warner Cable, which has 2.7 million subscribers. There are
about 17 million high-speed
Internet subscribers in the United States, about two-thirds of whom are cable subscribers.

So far, the cable industry has shrugged off Verizon's announcements, saying they have no
plans to adjust their efforts to market
Internet service.

Under Verizon's new pricing plan, monthly fees for Internet service will drop from about
$50 to $29.95 for customers who also
subscribe to local and long-distance telephone service. On a stand-alone basis, the
monthly fee will be about $34.95. In
contrast, most cable customers pay about $42 per month for Internet service.

During an interview this week, Comcast chief executive Brian L. Roberts said his customers
have chosen cable over DSL
because of better service and higher speeds, not necessarily lower prices. "I think the
consumer has figured out that cable is
better than DSL," Roberts said.

Several analysts said this week that there is plenty of room for both DSL and cable to
grow before competitive pressures begin
to affect pricing. Just 17 percent of U.S. homes subscribe to high-speed Internet service.

"We don't think there is going to be a price war," said Niraj A. Gupta, an analyst with
Salomon Smith Barney.

Roberts suggested he would compete by enhancing service rather than cutting prices.
Comcast is considering several options,
such as boosting current access speeds and adding online content.

Verizon, meanwhile, is planning to boost its online look and feel through its partnership
with MSN, which is now Verizon's
Internet portal of choice for DSL customers. MSN is owned by Microsoft Corp. and competes
directly with America Online,
the nation's largest Internet service provider.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36721-2003May9.html

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Verizon Sets Pay Phone Wireless Net Access

By BRIAN BERGSTEIN
The Associated Press
Friday, May 9, 2003; 5:23 PM

NEW YORK - Verizon Communications Inc. plans to offer wireless Internet access in busy
sections of cities like New York
by installing "WiFi" equipment in its pay phones, a top Verizon executive said Friday.

After delivering a speech at a wireless security conference in New York, Verizon's vice
chairman and president, Lawrence
Babbio, was asked whether Verizon would consider turning its pay phones into WiFi "hot
spots" that radiate Internet access for
a few hundred feet, since the phones' wiring can facilitate connections to the Internet.

Babbio responded by saying Verizon expects to announce such a plan shortly.

"All of our pay phone people have already told us" that the phones would make good
wireless access points, Babbio said.
"That will probably be the vehicle we use, probably in Manhattan."

Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe said details are still being worked out, including where the
WiFi service would be offered and
how much Verizon would charge for access.

WiFi allows people to share a single Internet connection inexpensively and at high speeds.
Thousands of hot spots - some
offering free access, some requiring payment - have sprung up in cafes, airports, parks
and hotels.

Many phone and Internet companies are still cautious about embracing WiFi, which is short
for Wireless Fidelity, largely
because they have yet to determine whether it can be profitable for them.

However, New York-based Verizon offers WiFi equipment to consumers who buy its DSL
high-speed Internet access, and in
November began offering to set up WiFi connectivity for small and medium-sized businesses.

Pay phones already have been turned into WiFi hot spots in Toronto and Montreal as part of
a test by Bell Canada. Eric Carr,
a project manager with InCode Telecom, a technology consulting firm helping Bell Canada,
said several independent pay phone
companies have inquired about following suit.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35835-2003May9.html