Telepocalypse

GGGetting connected

I've been hanging out in Starbucks some mornings recently whilst Madam #1 goes to nursery. I've actually found 3G to be quite a satisfactory substitute for WiFi. I haven't tried doing a Skype call over 3G, maybe soon. But otherwise it's quick enough and pretty reliable.

My data usage comes to about 10-12Mb for 2 hours, so there's little chance of busting the 3Gb monthly limit. At my old provider's rate of £4/Mb, I'd need a second job to pay for the connectivity.

Next week I'm on holiday. What's peculiar is that T-Mobile will lose 100% of my business in the process. Rather than do data roaming abroad, I've got myself an apartment to stay in that has WiFi.

If you were following an aggressive "pipe" strategy, you'd try to bid for my business. As soon as I landed on a roaming network, T-Mobile could pitch me via a text message some bundled plans (say €50 for a week's unlimited access) with "click here" activation. Better to get something than nothing. The secret sauce of making money from dumb pipes is to actually try selling one.