One of the reasons for lower prices is that vendors will no longer need to develop and support lower quantity proprietary subcomponents, cutting design, manufacturing, and support costs. Ethernet went through a similar lowering of prices as more and more companies began complying with the 802. 3 standard. Over the past couple of decades, MIS organizations have had a difficult time maintaining control of network implementations. One part of the company, for example, may purchase a wireless network from one vendor, then another part of the company may buy a different wireless network. Some people refer to these silos as stovepipes.
Acquisitions bring dissimilar systems together as well.
One company having a proprietary system may purchase another having a different proprietary system, resulting in non-interoperability. Jim Geier is a consultant and author of several books on wireless networks. He provides independent technical and management cons ulting services related to wireless networking to companies worldwide.