Wireless Broadband - For Email Only?

In the Denver airport today, on my way home from the mountains, I sat down to collect my thoughts for a talk I am scheduled to give as part of David Isenberg's and Jeff Pulver's Freedom to Connect conference in DC this Monday and Tuesday. This timely gathering will bring together a pile of smart, progressive folks (author excluded) working hard to ensure neutrality on the Net and a diversity of affordable access alternatives for all.

Last week, Google hooked me up with a Verizon Broadband Access EVDO card. So, rather than wrangle with the unpredictable melange of paid WiFi providers in airports, I just fired this thing up. The connection came together pretty painlessly with the throughput clocking in at 409kbps. Not bad.

With an hour to burn, I put on my headphones, turned on iTunes radio and dove in to tackling email. One of the first things I came across was a forwarded link from Google Video showing a slim, young, geeky Sun executive named Eric Schmidt honing his public speaking skills. Soon thereafter, a friend called me on Google Talk, so I chatted for a bit.

Cool user experience, eh? Exactly the kind of connectivity  I had been seeking. Except . . . well . . .  apart from the email, everything else I did above was in direct violation of the terms of the VZ Access Acceptable Use Policy (you will have to enter a location to view the policy).  The relevant section, which Verizon emphasizes in bold for our convenience, reads:

"Unlimited NationalAccess/BroadbandAccess services cannot be used (1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games, (2) with server devices or with host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, Voice over IP (VoIP), automated machine-to-machine connections, or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, or (3) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections."

No music? No video? No VoIP? Come on. I wish I could believe that Verizon was trying to act in the best interest of the network's health by limiting overall traffic consumption. However, it just seems like too much of a conflict when movies, music, games, and of course, voice are all conveniently available (for an additional fee) from Verizon and their flashy new VCast service. 

Hmm. I see things like this, and I am increasingly looking forward to this conference . . .

Comments

[Riad]

This might be of interest.

Verizon's EVDO service: hilariously restrictive use policy

TOS on Cingular's wireless data service sucks as much as Verizon's

[ilya]

So, uhm, what are the technological obstacles of making wireless cards with radius 50 meters under $100 in next year? We would have mesh wireless then if they could talk to each other.

I am still especially interested in Moscow, because it's very dense - comparable only to other megepoli like Now York or Tokyo - but more important in terms of relative concentration of everything. Great place to deploy wireless network.

[luk]

tres interessant votre blog

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I read this sentence out loud to a group of engineers from my team at lunch the other day and they cracked up like I did. It touched off such a wave of nostalgia for the first machines we all used and when we first discovered the Internet. We all felt so old and yet so lucky.

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