People looking to relocate or planning a sight-seeing trip to a metro area may be adding another item to their checklists: Does the city offer wireless access? -- Increasingly, the answer will be yes. This month, San Francisco and New Haven, CT became the two latest major U.S. urban areas to take another step toward providing Wi-Fi connections. They've submitted requests for proposals from technology companies and hired consultants. And Philadelphia -- the first major urban area to initiate a city government-led wireless program -- just announced that it has narrowed its search for an Internet provider to two finalists: Earthlink and Hewlett-Packard. The service will be rolled out in "mid-October," according to Dianah Neff, CIO of the city of Philadelphia. Indeed, approximately 300 U.S. cities and municipalities are now in various stages of wireless rollouts -- up from barely any just a year and a half ago. Greg Richardson, founder of Civitium, an Atlanta-based organization that assists cities in their Wi-Fi efforts, sometimes uses the word "crazy" to describe this phenomenon.
Telecom and pay TV providers are entering a period where traditional connectivity revenue is growing at well under 2 percent a year worldwide, even as traffic volumes, quality expectations, and competitive pressures continue to rise. This widening gap between flat service revenues and escalating investment needs is the central strategic challenge now confronting network operators, tech vendors, and investors across the communications value chain. This transitional environment forces service providers to pivot from "grow by adding lines" to "grow by monetizing experiences, insights, and ecosystems." Enterprise digital transformation, 5G, fiber, and cloud computing are all necessary enablers, but none of them automatically translate into higher ARPU or margin; they need to be coupled with new value propositions and operating models. Telecom and Cable Market Development According to the latest IDC market study, worldwide spending on telecom and pay TV services is expec...