…and means trouble for cellular providers: “With a device called the Junxion Box, (anyone) can set up a mobile multiuser Internet connection anywhere (you get) cellphone service. The box, about the size of a shoebox cover, uses a cellular modem card from a wireless phone carrier to create a Wi-Fi hot spot that lets dozens of people connect to the Internet.

… But what may be a boon for wandering Web surfers could quickly become a threat to wireless providers. ‘The premise is one person buys an air card and one person uses the service, not an entire neighborhood,’ said Jeffrey Nelson, executive director for corporate communications at Verizon Wireless. ‘Giving things away for free doesn’t work anymore. It never did.’

Unlimited service on cellular modem cards for PC’s costs about $80 a month. The carriers are clearly worried about a technology that could destroy that business, but they have not formed a united front against Junxion.

… The commercial version of the box retails for $699. They plan a less expensive consumer version next year.” (New York Times )