The
Air Is Free, and Sometimes So Are the Phone Calls That Borrow It
Darcy Padilla for The
New York Times
Gary
Schaffer, at the window of his home in
By
MATT RICHTEL
Published:
November 27, 2006
New
types of mobile phones, like this model from Belkin,
can locate and tap in to the growing number of wireless access points to the
Internet, just as laptops with Wi-Fi do. Once
connected, the user can make phone calls as usual, but signal strength can
vary.
The phone, made by Belkin,
is one of several new mobile devices that allow users to make free or low-cost
phone calls over the Internet. They are designed to take advantage of the
hundreds of thousands of wireless access points deployed in cafes, parks, businesses
and, most important, homes.
The
technology’s advocates say that as long as people are paying for high-speed Wi-Fi access in their homes, they
should be able to use it as a conduit for inexpensive calls and an alternative
to traditional phone service.
But, in a
twist that raises some tricky ethical and legal questions, the phones can also
be used on the go, piggybacking on whatever access points happen to be open and
available, like that of Mr. Schaffer.
A retired
business teacher, Mr. Schaffer seemed affably cautious about the idea of having
his bandwidth borrowed.
“If
you’re a friend, I’d say, let’s give it a try,” he said. “If you’re a stranger,
probably not, unless you had to make an emergency call.”
The call
made from Mr. Schaffer’s lawn went through but was quickly disconnected,
apparently because of a weak signal. Mr. Schaffer did not seem to feel he owed
any apology for the spotty coverage, though he did express concern for the
person on the other end of the line.
“I know
what it’s like to have a call dropped,” he said.
For all
its limitations, the technology is starting to emerge commercially, with
companies like Vonage, Skype
(owned by eBay) and T-Mobile (a unit of Deutsche Telekom) now selling or supporting
mobile devices that use Wi-Fi networks.
In some
cases, the voice service is free. A Belkin phone that
works with the Skype calling service costs about
$180; calls to Skype users on computers are free, as
are outgoing calls to domestic phone numbers, at least through the end of the
year. Incoming calls from phones cost extra. Vonage
charges $90 for a phone and $15 a month for 500 minutes of talk time.
One big
hurdle is that the Wi-Fi radio frequency spectrum is
unlicensed and not maintained by any one company, so call quality can be
unreliable. Moving a few yards can require finding a new network to connect to.
In other words, when you place free or low-cost calls — especially on a stranger’s
network — you sometimes get what you pay for.
“There
are a lot of dropped calls,” said Roger Entner, a
telecommunications industry analyst with Ovum Research. But he said the new
technology had at least one impressive ability:
getting people to appreciate their old-fashioned cellular service.
“Everybody
who tries a Wi-Fi phone will get down on their knees
and thank the wireless phone people for the good job they’ve done on coverage,”
he said.
Wi-Fi is also a power-hungry technology that can
cause phone batteries to die quickly — in some cases, within an hour or two of
talk time.
“When you
turn on the Wi-Fi it does bring the battery life
down,” said Mike Hendrick, director of product
development for T-Mobile. But he said the technology was improving rapidly.
T-Mobile
is letting customers in
More
generally, the technology could threaten the dominance of traditional
telecommunications networks by giving people an alternative pipe for their
voice and data transmissions.
But some
carriers are not convinced that the technology is ready for the market.
“We can
totally understand that people want even more ubiquity from cellphones,”
said Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless. But Wi-Fi
devices “aren’t where they need to be,” he said.
Mr. Hendrick of T-Mobile said the new phones were good enough
to provide an alternative.
“If you
can’t get access because you’re buried in the basement of a metal-encased
building, you can go to an open wireless network,” he said. Or it could be
useful “if you’re out in the suburbs, in the basement, and you have Wi-Fi in the house.”
But what
if you’re just on somebody’s lawn? How do people feel about a passer-by using
their bandwidth to place free phone calls?
For his
part, Mr. Schaffer said he would mind only if it had an adverse effect on him —
which in theory it could, if the voice data caused congestion on his network.
There is no clear indication to a network’s owner that a phone call is taking
place, so most will not have the chance to object.
Not
everyone is so open to walk-by talkers. “I don’t like it,” Kevin Asbra, another San Franciscan, said. “It’s an abuse of the
system. I pay my bills. Why should you call for free?”
His wife,
Karen Seratti, begged to differ. A Web site usability
tester, she says she regularly looks for open access points so she can check
e-mail when she is traveling or away from the office.
“I walk
around with my Mac all the time looking for access,” she said. “When you have
to send an e-mail, you have to send an e-mail.”
Sometimes
she must scavenge from within her own house, as when the family’s Internet
connection goes down. She offered a neighborly tip: “Walk into the alley — you
can find the network called Fido265.”
Finding
an open access point might prove challenging in some places, but not in San
Francisco, where the spread of Wi-Fi networks has outpaced
even that of yoga studios and organic produce shops.
In a walk
through the Inner Sunset district, a phone’s display showed that most wireless
networks in range were protected, requiring a password for access.
There
were, however, enough unsecured ones that it was possible to get online every
half a block or so. Because the Wi-Fi phone looks
like a standard cellphone, it is much less
conspicuous than a laptop on the street. The proliferation of Wi-Fi laptops and, in turn, hunters of free Internet access
has already raised questions about whether borrowers of bandwidth are breaking
any laws.
“There’s
a big debate going on right now,” said Jennifer S. Granick,
executive director of the Center for Internet and Society at
Traditional
analogies are hard to come by, she said, adding that she does not believe using
Wi-Fi is the same as trespassing, since the signals
travel beyond property limits. “People say that you can’t go inside somebody’s
house; but I say, you can sit outside and listen to
the radio,” Ms. Granick said.
She added
that the situation was different when the owner of a wireless network chose to
require a password. “If it’s secured, it’s marked as off-limits,” she said.
Alex Milowski, an executive at a technology start-up who was out
for a walk last week with his infant son, Max, said that it was fine for Wi-Fi phone users to jump onto an open network. Would he
teach Max that swiping bandwidth without permission was O.K.?
“By the
time he’s worried about it, access will be free,” Mr. Milowski
said.
1.
Do you
know anyone who has a wireless internet connection?
2.
Did the
author seemed biased in this report ?
3.
Do you
feel it is morally right to use one of these phones ?
4.
How
would you feel if someone was using it outside your house?
5.
Would
you buy this type of phone ?
6.
Which
companies are offering these phones?
7.
What is
your opinion of these phones ?