Steve Jobs wanted Wi-Fi to replace networks

In Walter Isaacson's biography, Steve Jobs comes across as a bit of a control freak. Nevertheless this is on another level: he in fact wanted to create his own Wi-Fi network to replace the mobile networks, so Apple had full control over every element of the phone. Mental.

John Stanton, chairman of venture capital firm Trilogy International Partners, said he and Jobs often talked about the prospect earlier the launch of the original iPhone in 2007, reports Computerworld. According to Stanton, "[Jobs] wanted to replace carriers. He and I spent a lot of time talking about whether synthetically you could create a carrier using Wi-Fi spectrum. That was part of his vision."

Presumably Jobs wanted to create some kind of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) equivalent, using unlicensed Wi-Fi spectrum, however he gave up on the idea afterwards about two years of work, around 2007, the year the first generation iPhone launched.

The then best thing

Instead Apple chose the then best thing: signing exclusive deals with one network in each country. In the UK it was O2 at first, in the US AT&T. Although Cupertino has since spread the love furthermore.

Stanton was speaking at the Law Seminars International event in Seattle. He said the networks should be worried about how much power the manufacturers now have. "If I were a carrier, I'd be concerned about the dramatic shift in power that occurred," he said.

Earlier this year, the former head of Apple France recommended the company just buy a network to avoid any issues with them not playing ball, reports CNET. Then why not? It reportedly has $40bn in the bank, with which Jobs wanted to wage thermonuclear war on Android.

Does Apple have too much power already? Or would you be happy signing up to an iPhone on an Apple-owned network/VoIP deal? Let us know on our Facebook page.

That'd be fine by me. As long as the price is low. Maybe they would offer some interesting new take on networks? I can't as a matter of fact think how you would change it even though.

IPhone on Apples own mobile network

If you could only get an iPhone on Apples own mobile network, I would throw my iPhone in the closest rubbish bin I see. Talk about a monopoly, they could charge whatever they want for the service and we'd have no other choice nevertheless to pay it if we wanted an iPhone.

I am sorry nevertheless the writer is using words that are not best suited i.e. Control Freak and Mental... Please grow up... I would or rather be in apple's hands than the horrible mobile networks that want to charge huge amounts of money us for their incapable infrastructure.

I think the writer should have chosen a more suitable title for this article that included the word "Mobile", as opposed to just "Networks". Wi-Fi is a wireless network, so the title doesn’t make sense, until you start reading the article. I guess we should use the proper term of WLAN.