Working Anywhere

Rent Your Broadband Cards

Phil Baker pointed to a new company RovAir that is in the business of short term, contract free rentals of broadband cards.

The idea has lots of merit, but may be short-lived as I expect the USA GSM operators T-Mobile and AT&T to roll out pay as you go data plans in 2009. Why? The weak dollar is bringing many international business travelers to the USA. The ability to unlock a Data Card or to market an inexpensive, high quality Chinese made mobile broadband card like THREE in the UK offers is too great of an opportunity to pass up.

The other hurdle is that the two networks available are Sprint and Verizon. While they're great in metro areas, I've found they both drop off in more rural communities.

That said, for those that need a bunch of cards for a short term project this is a GREAT opportunity, and the founders would be wise to sell heavily into the trade show and event market; establish a kiosk in Las Vegas' McCarren Airport for inbound travelers, and make the return process as easy as pie by affiliating with UPS stores which can establish a nationwide drop off, pack, ship and return program easier than anyone..

Why Three May Be My Favorite Carrier In The UK, Followed By T-Mobile

I have become a fan of the carrier known as 3 (Three) in the UK.

Why? Because what they sell works.

Because they are easy to deal with.

Because the get the idea of no hurdles. No painful process and no hassles.

I have 5 SIMs from Three between my Nokia N95, the three SkypePhone and SkypePhone2s we now use, plus one in the Mobile Broadband card. With three people working in London last week, the SkypePhones were a blessing at staying in touch with one another and with people we deal with around the globe.

What's more I also use a T-Mobile SIM on my Nokia E71, I found that TMO in the UK is not far behind 3 in how I feel about being a prepaid customer in the UK with either carrier. I'm a pretty happy camper, but it's the simple and easy 3 plans that I like the most.

What I like about 3 though is their integration of devices, and a non-biased approach to working with both Macs and PCs. I picked up a pay as you go 3 Mobile Broadband card. It worked right out of the box and for 15 pounds a month for 5 gigs of data, pretty much all I needed while I was not in my apartment or hotel. The new SkypePhone2 also has connectivity to both Macs and Windows, or by Bluetooth. The update yesterday to the PC software for the Mobile Broadband card that 3 sells was painless and efficient.

Bottom line, if you're heading to the UK or any country 3 serves, you can expect this kind of a great experience. That makes 3 a Working Anywhere Approved carrier.

Need To Make Appointments? Use Tungle

I was happy to hear the news a few days ago from client CEO and founder Marc Gingras regarding Tungle. They raised $5 million from Boston VC Commonwealth Ventures.

That helps propel there newest offer. A web based version for coordinating meetings with groups of people across companies, platforms and calendaring software. Now Tungle offers a web schedulig service, that's compatible with Google, Outlook ( both with or wihout Exchange), Apple iCal and Entourage.

Want WiFi In SF? Check Out This Summary Listing of Whose Hot

Jason Brooks at the San Francisco Technology Examiner has a great post today that tells residents and visitors to the city by the Bay where they can find WiFi and which operators serve up the best access.

He lists links to T-Mobile, AT&T, Boingo and FON.

BT and The Cloud End Stormy Relationship

The Cloud and BT are ending their roaming relationship.

I wouldn't be surprised to see something else coming from the Cloud in the way of a deal with one of the mobile operators.

One solution is client Boingo, which if memory serves me correctly, has a roaming agreement with the Cloud.

One Billion Dollars for Mobile Broadband

It's easy to see that the GSMA is a tad nervous about the pending deployment of less expensive broadband via WiMax in the USA. Mike Elgan points out the cold hard facts that they don't need to only promote, but the mobile operators should fix it too wit the money.

As better broadband comes along from the cable operators with Docsis 3.0 the speeds and quality of the broadband will increase and that means better WiFi also gets hung off of it.

At the end of the day, Mobile broadband is good for the business traveler, but for the everyday person, WiFi with proper "pipe" behind it is more than enough.