Icoa Inc (ICOA)

[Deathsnapper]

Well that has two important aspects depending on whether we're talking about new or old technology:

Old:
With old technology they would likely put a few well placed routers/antennae between the homes, or if it were small enough one powerful central one. But this would still likely have a wire connecting it (the antenna) to another location where ICOA would hold servers/etc.

New:
With newer solutions like WiMAX being allowed the transmittal radius is growing significantly. A single central node could provide wifi to a small town. It can provide data over a couple dozen miles. So far fewer of these nodes are required.

That said WiMAX isn't exactly the same as wifi. It's extremely similar, but there's no saying whether ICOA uses technology like this. Plus I haven't seen any statistics for the newly opened channels for wifi - they could potentially be more significant and a better move to take.

But the key to old-style wifi, if they were doing it on a pay-per-use system (which is what I gather, they do) is to set it up in population dense areas where people are either willing to pay to surf (i.e. wealthy) or may require internet for other reasons. It could be extremely lucrative in either situation, and I think we can see that from how ICOA's done!

I wasn't trying to put anything against ICOA (why would I? I'm currently investing in them and would love the price to increase, not decrease!) I was simply saying that most wifi vendors would likely use plenty of wires in setup, just as long as the user doesn't have to know about them. It's better to, it's faster.