City-wide WiFi: a threat to cellular networks?

Word has it that the Cloud network is set to establish city-wide WiFi hotspot networks in the United Kingdom. The Cloud, which operates pay public WiFi hotspots in the UK, Sweden and Germany, is targeting this to possibly service users of WiFi-enabled Voice-over-Internet Protocol handsets, or VoWiFi, as well as other wireless-enabled devices such as laptops, PDAs, portable game consoles, and the even hybrid-type mobile phones with WiFi support.

The Cloud currently services various brands in the telecoms, VoIP and gaming industries, such as British Telecoms, Skype and Nintendo. The move for a wide-area WiFi implementation could signal a new era in telecommunications, with traditional cellular networks possibly being replaced by Internet Protocol-based applications such as VoWiFi. For endusers, this would mean cheaper and more flexible access to voice and data over wireless networks, with the plethora of wireless-enabled gadgets and services available. For service providers, this would mean lower investment cost requirements in infrastructure, since bandwidth is getting cheaper by the moment to set up.

VoWiFi is still in its infancy stages, though, and we cannot expect anything as reliable as what we have with cellular. But one thing’s for sure: the technology is here already. It’s just a matter of adopting it in an effective and efficient way.