Andrzej's monthly column #3

sorrowman

Good point right there....as a matter of fact I'd say hotels, airliners and everything else could do with just a broadband connection nowadays, and leave everything else (TV, phone, etc.) out of the package. I mean, think about it.

Suppose you're abroad in this hotel room with a broadband connection. What can you do with it. Check your mail, MSN/Skype with our friends/family/colleagues and whoever you need to talk to at that point in time, or perhaps send that one report or column the people at the office have been waiting for...you name it.

As for TV, a halfway decent broadcasting company streams it's most important programmes, such as the news, on the internet (sure quality may be lacking compared to your god-knows-how-many inch HDTV at home, but it'll do....and above all it'll most likely keep you posted on whatever happens at your home turf. Same goes for the quality newspaper you crave for every Saturday morning....all available online from start to finish (provided you subscribed for it naturally)

As for using roomservice in your hotel ...one could probably arrange things in such a way that you can even order a drink, or a bite to eat using your laptop, blackberry, or whatever device it is that you're using.

If you put 1 and 1 together it could actually make hotelrooms cheaper if you ask me. Just pull a nice glassfibre cable into every hotelroom, or maybe install a wireless accesspoint of some sorts in there. No jungle of satellite dishes on the roof anymore, cable TV, phonelines and all that, just forget about it. Broadband is the magic word.

Same goes for being on a plane or perhaps traveling by train. A decent broadband connection to the 'world outside' is all you need (OK, and a cellphone actually working in the underground would be nice too)

Access to a reasonably fast broadband connection for say two or three Euro, perhaps included in the price of your planeticket/hotelroom, would make life a whole lot easier for those traveling a lot...that's the bottomline.

Andrzej Bania

Some companies now have pilot HSDPA schemes in the UK

The claim for HDDPA-type technology is:-
2006: 1.8Mbps
2007: 3.6Mbps
2008: 7.2Mbps
2009: 10Mbps

Prices for these services will vary - but the networks committed to this stuff a LONG TIME AGO and they got badly bitten with the original 3G (customers still do not seem to want to make video phone calls etc)...

...so the cost will be much lower than you might anticipate

T-Mobile seem to have a 'flat rate charge' for unlimited bandwidth/downloads of £17 (€25) a month called Web 'n' Walk

Vodafone were looking at more like £50 (€75) for an unlimied service

With some hotels offering free broadband (and our help in highlighting them !) at one end...

...and 'Broadband Speed Internet On the Move' becoming a reality for very little money...

...I think the whole Planes, Trains and Hotels industry is in for a nasty shock

If the service providers can introduce a solid service - over a wide area - with an option for 'Pay as you Go' customers (maybe £1 a day ?)...

...and interconnectivity (Bluetooth?) from phone to PC/laptop etc gets better...

...then the world will be a pretty cool place inside the next 24 months

Especially with 'Skype On The Move' being available from any Windows Pocket PC device

That means you could be on a train between Schiphol and Haarlem - making free calls to Australia - while downloading your email

Paradise !

(apart from being on the train ;~))