The Introduction of Internet Access as a Service

Users need more options. Here is one idea on how to make the Internet more accessible and make some money out of it.

A little bit of context

Internet access is still a scarce resource. In general, people in need of it are subject to all sorts of companies whenever they leave their houses. There are times these companies are not even there to help them out. This has not to be this way.

How many times have you found yourself in the following situation: you have no Internet access, but your phone tells you there are 10 password protected WiFi access points around? How much would you pay for an hour of Internet?

How to make life easier

Let’s say you have a WiFi access point in your place (house, business, etc.). Chances are you are not using it all the time or using its full potential. This is an idle resource you could be making money out of. Let me tell you how.

What I propose is a new software layer that enables WiFi access point owners to easily share access to people around. All they will have to do is to set up this software on their computer and maybe connect a couple cables here and there. Money will go to their accounts based on how much people around choose to use that network.

A conceptual illustration of how things could work: the user has access to the network of his choice.

The degree of control the owner has over his investment will largely depend on the business model of the company selling the software. Here are a couple suggestions:

1. The software is sold to the access point owners and they will be responsible for setting the price and how much bandwidth they want to share. This model would turn that access point into something close to what Boingo does;
2. The software is provided by the company in a way it decides which price is the best one to ask the user for. This centralized control would make it possible the implementation of many cool features like making available to the user the map locations of all access points around him.

In the users’ side, they would only have to check up for available networks around and pick the one that best suits their needs.

My Engineer gut feeling is that this new infrastructure is rather feasible. I am not sure it is profitable, but I will leave for whom choose to build it further to figure it out. After all, this is just an idea.

What I find cool about this one is that all it proposes is a way to enable owners to get money out of their idle resources while helping people have more choices of Internet access, just like Airbnb enables owners to rent their unused space while helping travelers with more housing options.

If you feel you have something to add, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment area, whatever they are.

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Thanks,

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