3G for iPhone 'niche technology'? Not at all!
An article at MacNN quote some people in the US (Shaw Wu of American Technology Research) stating 3G and HSPA etc is overrated, draw too much batteries and that coverage is spotty at best.
I claim they are completely wrong. They obviously have not visited countries like Sweden where 3G coverage is good, 3G-data (broadband connections via 3G modems) is booming and WiMax coverage because of this is not increasing in the speed as one can see in for example the US. 3G broadband sold in Sweden 87490 new subscriptions the 2nd quarter of 2007, which is a growth of 317%.
Myself, I am a happy use of 3G data, and the coverage is better on for example the trains in Sweden than the WiFi that the train company provides. I have also stopped using WiFi hotspots as the 3G data coverage is good enough, and speed so fast that changing to WiFi does not make much of a difference. It is more convenient to always use the same kind of connection.