Hotspots help with 3G mobile bills

A NICE thing about the 3G iPhone is that it connects to the internet via WiFi hotspots as well as the third-generation mobile phone networks of Optus, Telstra and Vodafone.

That's just what you need if you're planning a lengthy session on the net, or to download music or upload photos.

If you can get a fairly fast connection, you can also use WiFi for a free or cheap voice over internet protocol phone call.

You don't have to own an iPhone for WiFi mobile connections. Many mobiles now have inbuilt WiFi technology as well as 3G.

Dual-mode phones on sale in Australia include the BlackBerry Pearl, HTC Touch Cruise and Touch Diamond, and Samsung's Blackjack and i780.

Nokia, the market leader, offers more than 50 models in Australia with WiFi access, including all its N-series multimedia smartphone models, such as the popular N95, and all E-series business smartphones. But where do the owners find free or low-cost WiFi internet access? You'd soon find your bank account running on empty if you persistently linked up to one of the many WiFi hotspots operated by Telstra, which includes McDonald's burger spots, Starbucks coffee shops, Qantas Club lounges and the area around many Telstra payphones.

The going rate at these hotspots is $5 for 15 minutes. An hour costs $14, or you can buy a day pass for $27.50. That might be OK for Qantas Clubbers, but its a bit steep for the Big Mac nibblers, we reckon.

Many bookstores and cafes offer free WiFi connections to customers, although you're usually expected to shell out for at least a cup of coffee at the latter. You'll find a listing of more than 2000 such hotspots at a website run by Free Wireless Internet.

It's at www.freewifi.com.au, but be warned: not all the listed hotspots listed are in fact free or available to all, many are in apartment blocks, and others are what Free Wireless calls user-pays.

Then there's Tomizone: a new-in-town outfit trying to undercut Telstra by setting up nationwide low-cost WiFi hotspots.

Tomizone was started in New Zealand by technology entrepreneurs Steve Simms and Phillip Joe, and now has more than 600 sites, 450 of them in Australia.

All are accessible to iPhone and iPod Touch users, and anyone with a WiFi-laptop.

Seeking to jump aboard the iPhone bandwagon, Tomizone is offering the Apple users free connections for three months.

After that they pay the normal fee: $3 an hour, or $4 for a day pass. There's also a seven-day pass for $20 - still considerably less than you'd pay for a day with Telstra.

Here's where it gets really interesting. The company encourages users to go further and set up their own Tomizone hotspots. All they need is a broadband connection and a Tomizone-enabled WiFi router.

Major router makers D-Link and Belkin have suitable models. Once running and registered, Tomizone handles user access and usage, collects payment and distributes half the money back to the hotspot owner.

Hopefully Tomizone will expand quickly. At the moment, the services hotspots seem a bit thin on the ground. We could locate only one in the Sydney CBD, although there are a few scattered through inner suburbs such as Kings Cross, Pyrmont and Darlinghurst.

If you live in Adelaide, there's no need to sign up for any paying service, as the city of churches is also the city of hotspots, with Australia's only free city-wide WiFi network.

There are 70-odd hotspots in the CBD, and more across suburbs, Adelaide airport and some country areas. Some are in coffee shops or computer stores. Others are strung from inner-city powerlines and light poles.

IPhone and other dual-mode phone owners should be able to stroll the streets, downloading music and chatting by phone.

The NSW Government recently dropped plans for similar free WiFi networks in Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle, and several other centres. They were not feasible on technical and financial grounds, according to Commerce Minister Eric Roozendaal.

Nuts. If Adelaide can do it, so can Sydney, Doubleclick reckons - and Wollongong and Newcastle, not to mention Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Hobart and a whole lot more.

dfrith@gmail.com