AT&T locks down hot spots
By Ben Charny
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
July 9, 2003, 11:48 AM PT
http://news.com.com/2100-1039-1024175.html

In a bid to win more business customers, AT&T will extend the same network security measures it makes available for broadband and dial-up connections to 2,000 "hot spots."
Hot spots, which use Wi-Fi equipment to deliver wireless Web access, have scared away some potential customers because the connections are notoriously insecure.

AT&T says it will try to allay those concerns by locking down hot spots in 20 countries using a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which many corporations already use to secure other types of remote connections. AT&T plans to sell access inside these select hot spots as part of its overall VPN service, called the AT&T VPN Tunneling Service, by the fourth quarter.

AT&T is not the first company to try to secure Wi-Fi connections using VPNs. Hot-spot service provider Boingo Wireless has been pushing VPN protection as well.

AT&T's new security measures are being provided by Gric Communications, a maker of Web-based mobile office communications systems for businesses. AT&T is the first major U.S. carrier to use Gric's hot-spot VPN product, according to Gric. Financial details of the deal between the companies were not disclosed.

Gric competes with iPass. Cometa Networks, a customer of iPass, is a Wi-Fi start-up backed by AT&T that hopes to build a network of 20,000 hot spots.

Edited by author 07-09-2003 04:20 PM
McDonald's Serves Up Wi-Fi in SF
July 8, 2003

SAN FRANCISCO -- Fast food giant McDonald's (Quote Tuesday continued its quest for providing wireless Internet access and took the wrapping off of its latest batch of hotspots during a launch party here.

The company, which successfully opened 10 kiosks in downtown New York back in March, said it is supplying local area networks via Wi-Fi at 75 of its Bay Area restaurants from SF to Half Moon Bay with 55 going live today.
Customers will be able to identify participating restaurants by signage that displays the Golden Arches in the universal Internet @ symbol. Cost for a two-hour wireless Internet connection at these locations is $4.95, with other purchase options available. Buying a Big Macs and Filet-o-Fish is not mandatory, however.

"We want the Golden Arches to be the first choice for a great meal and a place to go wireless," McDonald's West Division President Don Thompson said.

As before, chip making giant Intel is helping with the launch, providing sponsorship, technology and a joint marketing campaign. But instead of using Cometa Networks as its provider, McDonald's has tapped Austin, Texas-based Wayport. The wireless ISP is best known for its hotel and airport contracts including seven major airports: Dallas-Fort Worth, Seattle-Tacoma, San Jose, Austin-Bergstrom, LaGuardia, Oakland and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Cometa is a partnership between IBM, AT&T and Intel.
Intel and Wayport have worked together in the past to promote hotspots based on Intel's Centrino wireless chipset. McDonald's said all of its Wi-Fi restaurants are verified with Intel Centrino mobile technology.

"And now in the San Francisco Bay Area, these guests will be able to connect either directly through Wayport or through our 'roaming' partners who in total serve more than 60 million consumers," said Dave Vucina, CEO of Wayport.
Oak Brook, IL-based McDonald's is expected to launch several hundred restaurants by year's end. In addition to New York and San Francisco, Chicago has been tapped as the third U.S. metro area for wireless access in McDonald's franchises. The company said A number of New York City and Chicago McDonald's restaurants will soon offer Wi-Fi access. McDonald's recently launched Web site dedicated to finding their wireless sites only lists the 10 restaurants in Manhattan.

The New York promotion included a three-week campaign where customers with wireless laptops who purchase an Extra Value Meal at participating McDonald's restaurants will get one hour of free high-speed wireless Internet access. Customers could also purchase a single session of up to 60 minutes for $3.00.

Independent of its nationwide rollout, the company has already signed up to deploy hotspots in some of its franchise locations. A McDonald's in Media, Ohio claims it is the first Golden Arches in the nation to offer both 802.11b Wi-Fi Internet access and regular hardwired access.
Overseas, McDonald's of Japan and investment firm Softbank are discussing installing up to 4,000 hot spots in the restaurant's Japanese outlets. Australia-based Telstra <http://telstra.com/index.jhtml>; said it in negotiations with McDonald's to complement Telstra's existing $3 million wireless network, which already covers Qantas airport lounges and Rydges Hotels.

But with wireless hotspots on the rise -- current estimates pointing to some 78 million wireless consumers nationwide -- analysts say McDonald's choice to host hotspots is less about the technology and more about getting more customers in the door.

"I think it's as much about McDonald's and incremental money from food as it is about how McDonald's is ubiquitous," said Jupiter Research analyst Julie Ask. "They are everywhere. And if they are everywhere, and they put hotspots in their restaurants, then there's a great footprint of Wi-Fi access points. So it's less about public hotspots than it is about piping information out of McDonald's."

Ask says right now the majority of McDonald's customers do not own laptops or PDAs.

"But that will the story two to three years from now when consumers have handhelds or laptops with Wi-Fi cards and when the price of devices comes down," Ask said.

You Judge It -- Wirelessly
July 7, 2003


Film festival audiences often cheer, hiss, boo and walk out to express their feelings about the product on the screen. Some just fall asleep.

At the first annual U Judge It! Film Festival, held July 6 at the Delancey Street Theater in San Francisco, the audience was able to rate films, talk directly to film makers and vote for awards -- including distinctly odd-ball categories such as "Actor/Actress You Would Most Like to Date" -- all without leaving their seats.

U Judge It! was the first film festival in which audience members with Wi-Fi enabled laptops, PDAs and phones were able to participate directly in the proceedings. Media people and film makers at the 2002 and 2003 Sundance Film Festivals had access to a Wi-Fi network, but not audiences.

"We saw a great opportunity to use a new technology in a way that hasn't been done before," says festival organizer Evette Murray, executive director of the Media Arts Interplay Association (MAIA). "It will be a lot of fun for people and it will be very useful interaction for the artists."

MAIA organized the event with sponsorship from multimedia software developer Macromedia, San Francisco-based wireless handheld application developer Primal Cause, The San Francisco Bay Guardian newspaper and Skyy Vodka.

Incorporated last December, MAIA is, according to its charter, "a nonprofit arts education organization committed to providing opportunities for artists and audiences to interact with each other. Our mission is to empower both the creators and consumers of media arts by facilitating the sharing of creative processes and products."

The film festival was the organization's first event. "The original idea was to have a film festival that focused on the user experience and that would bring artist and audience together," Murray explains. "Then the question was, how to do this?"

The answer, which occurred almost simultaneously to the original idea being formed, was Wi-Fi. "I couldn't say Wi-Fi is the reason we decided to do it," Murray says. "But it's an extremely powerful tool in bringing artist and audience together."

Primal Cause, which also developed the Macromedia Flash-based application to be used at the event, installed just one Linksys access point at the 150-seat Delancey Street Theater. It covered the auditorium, the lobby and a little way out onto the street in front.

Capacity could have been an issue, but audience members were connecting to a local server, not the public Internet, and the Java application was not particularly data intensive, notes Primal Cause's Josh Krinsky. The Linksys access point supposedly supports as many as 200 simultaneous users.

"We think it's manageable," Krinsky says.

Murray expected a full-house on July 6, and said she wouldn't be surprised if every single person turns up with a Wi-Fi device. This is the epicenter of techno-America, after all. In fact, this may be the only place on the planet such a scheme might actually work.

Murray takes a longer view. "The Bay area is really good place to start out," she concedes. "There is definitely a high concentration of people with wireless devices here. But it's like the telephone -- people everywhere are eventually going to have this, it's just a matter of time."

Organizers planned to walk audience members through the process of setting up their devices to access the ad hoc network. Participants will need to have Flash, Version 6 installed on their systems.

Users opening the Festival intranet page were to have a choice of four activities: rate a film, vote for an award, talk to a film maker or sound off at the "shout-out" bulletin board.

To rate a film, they simply clicked on the film title in the menu and then used radio buttons to rate it. The awards were, to say the least, kooky. Others include "Film You Wish You Were In" and "Line You Will Quote."

If they choose to talk to a film maker, they could either enter a free-form chat session or answer the four questions about their work that each artist is allowed to post. Some of the film makers were scheduled to be at the event, others planned to participate remotely via the Internet -- including one in Turkey.

The audience-artist interaction is what the event is all about, Murray says, and Wi-Fi is a key enabler.

"When you have Q&As at these things, some people will get up to ask questions if they're not too shy. If they're a little more shy they might wait until after and run up and ask a question."

"By doing it through technology, we're letting anybody ask whatever they want. It means we'll get a lot more questions, and it's very valuable feedback for the film makers. They're really excited about participating."

We almost forgot, there were also films at the U Judge It! festival. Most were indie and short subjects. Programmers looked for award-winners from other recent festivals and new works by former award winners.

Murray is convinced the U Judge It! festival will be back next year, and she also believes there are lots of other applications -- trade shows in particular -- where artists or advertisers could benefit from audience feedback delivered wirelessly.

In fact, Murray says a contact in the film industry in L.A. was intrigued by her project and thinks the idea could be applied to post-release audience surveying for commercial releases -- or even on-the-fly tinkering with the editing of movies.

"Let's say you get all this feedback at the 2 p.m. showing," Murray speculates. "With digital [projection] technology you could download a new version of the film with the offending scene edited out for the 4 p.m. showing."

Wi-Fi at Wimbledon

This week's Wimbledon tennis tournament at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London is by no means the first major sporting event to feature on-site Wi-Fi hotspot services. It is the first in Europe, however -- yet another sign that Wi-Fi in Europe is on fire.

The service, provided by a joint venture between UK-based public Internet access firms Broadreach Networks Ltd. and WebPoint, is also one of the first anywhere to offer public Wi-Fi access at a sporting event as opposed to access for members of the media only.

For Broadreach, a fast-rising star in the UK Wi-Fi firmament, it's just the first of many special events at which it expects to provide high-speed Internet services. It will be involved in two more "high-profile cultural and sporting" events in the next couple of months alone, says CFO and co-founder Simon Weatherseed.

"I'd love to tell you about them, but the ink isn't even dry on the deals yet," Weatherseed says.

Talking about them now might also take away from the excitement at Wimbledon. If you're one of the lucky 50,000 this week who come to watch the stars of tennis in action on Centre Court -- and you bring along your Wi-Fi-enabled laptop or PDA -- you can slip out between sets and check e-mail, or upload the candid photo you just snapped of Serena Williams.

Actually, you can do that even if you're not Wi-Fi enabled because Broadreach and WebPoint also installed fixed wired Internet terminals.

Access is available in four areas around the grounds. Two of them, near the famous Long Bar near Centre Court and in the food court area near Court One, offer Wi-Fi access as well as fixed terminals.

Broadreach is using 3Com and Netgear access points and a WG-2100 Wireless Gateway from Bluesocket. to authenticate and route all wireless traffic on the site.

It may be hard to figure why anyone would want to go on the Internet in the middle of a thrilling pro tennis match, but apparently they do. This is the second year WebPoint has offered fixed access services at the tournament.

"We know certainly from the WebPoint stats on how many were using the fixed terminals last year that the demand was quite considerable," says Weatherseed. "By extension, we could see there would also be demand for wireless service."

Like stadiums and arenas in North America, Wimbledon has lots of corporate boxes -- or tents -- where companies butter up their clients by wining and dining them. Guests and hosts both need to keep in touch during the day, Weatherseed points out.

Usage results by mid week were slightly disappointing from a Wi-Fi perspective, though. Only "a couple of handfuls" of wireless users had logged on to the service each day, while several hundred a day were using the fixed terminals.

This is about exactly what Broadreach expects. The company was formed in 2000 to provide high-speed public Internet access, initially using fixed wired terminals.

"We could see the roadmap on Wi-Fi when we started," Weatherseed says. "But we're very much grounded in reality. We also realized it would be some time before there would be significant take-up of wireless -- and in fact, up until the end of July last year, it was illegal to offer commercial services over 802.11b in Britain anyway."

In the retail/consumer market Broadreach is going after, wireless will eventually overtake fixed access, the company believes, but that likely won't happen for at least five years. "For now, the only ones using wireless are the corporate market and other early adopters," Weatherseed says.

So Broadreach has a dual-technology strategy. Since the regulatory changes were made last summer, it has been rolling out both wired terminals and Wi-Fi hotspots -- to slightly over 50 locations so far, but with an ambitious target of 4,000 by the end of 2005.

A spin-off from the management consulting firm Arthur D. Little, Broadreach is well funded, with a roster of investors that include heavy-hitters such as BT (British Telecom), Intel Communications Fund and Virgin.

Despite its own OpenZone Wi-Fi play, BT sees Broadreach as complementary rather than competing. OpenZone is primarily a corporate offering, Weatherseed notes. Broadreach is a broader play and not even Wi-Fi-centric.

Special events is one of three primary areas of focus for the company. To this point it has concentrated on the other two: transportation/hospitality (with a heavy emphasis on rail) and retail/leisure sites. The 50 sites so far include some traditional hotspot venues, but also some that have yet to be tried on any scale in North America.

Broadreach has signed deals with key retail/leisure location owners, including Virgin Megastores (music, video and other Virgin-branded products and services) and LA Fitness and Holmes Place (both fitness center chains).

"Health clubs here have social areas and cafes and they're looking to increase the amount of time members spend in their clubs, and the amount of money they spend," Weatherseed says. "At the same time they're looking at providing additional services. That's what we're doing for them."

Broadreach has a deal with another Virgin company that operates trains and train stations in Britain's deregulated rail industry. In the first phase of the agreement, Broadreach is putting Wi-Fi hotspots (and fixed terminals) in Virgin-run rail stations. Euston and Paddington in London are already up and running, with stations in Birmingham and Manchester next, and more to come after that.

The partners are also working on a way to provide Wi-Fi access on moving trains, though they admit there are big technological challenges. Given the predominance of rail as a mode of transportation for commuters in the UK, figuring out how to solve those challenges is a priority for Broadreach.

If the company's hotspot location strategy seems slightly foreign to North American observers, its strategy for building a subscription base is only slightly less so.

Broadreach is not looking to build its customer base directly, but by partnering with non-competing Internet and mobile service providers -- something like Cometa Networks, the Intel-IBM-AT&T venture, Weatherseed notes.

So far it has deals in place with BT and Virgin mobile phone companies that give it access to some 4 million subscribers and associated other users. Those customers can log on to Broadreach facilities using their BT or Virgin IDs and passwords and can have the charges added to their mobile phone bills.

Just under 30,000 have signed up for Broadreach accounts and have used the service within the last three months, Weatherseed says. All are customers who have "charged up" their accounts by buying prepaid vouchers at Broadreach locations -- from one pound for 15 or 20 minutes to 10 pounds for a day.

When customers have an account, they can bank minutes. If they don't, the vouchers run out in real time.

The 30,000 does not include casual customers who use vouchers but don't bother to go through the process of setting up an account. It also doesn't include BT and Virgin subscribers who have set up accounts and arranged to have charges added to their mobile bills.

Nor does it include many Wi-Fi users, since Broadreach currently isn't charging for wireless service. It will probably start charging in the fall, Weatherseed says. So how many customers does Broadreach have? More than 30,000, it's safe to say.

Allowing customers, including Wi-Fi customers, to get access to its network with a voucher only, without creating an account is one of Broadreach's important differentiators, Weatherseed says.

"It's one of the beauties of our system," he says. "I can't understand why most of our competitors are doing it differently. We're very much focused on, 'Here's our network, you can get on anytime you want, you can pay as you go or you can use a third party account.'"

Wi-Fi users need neither client software nor account. When they launch their browser within range of a Broadreach hotspot, a log-on screen will pop up automatically.

The relationship with location owners is also different than it is for many North American operators. Broadreach typically owns the infrastructure, although some location owners may be given the opportunity to cover part of the investment, in which case their split of revenues is greater.

The revenue splits vary from location owner to location owner. Weatherseed won't even give a range.

Nor will he talk much about the company's finances. The current roster of investors has provided enough funding to move forward with Broadreach's business plan and it is not actively seeking additional funding.

"That's not to say that if someone came along with the right offer that might allow us to do things on a bigger sale that we wouldn't take it to our board of directors," Weatherseed says. "And they might say, 'Fine, let's bring in additional investors.'"

Even without additional funding, though, Broadreach seems to be on target to have, well, a broad reach in the UK Wi-Fi market.

Switches Improve WLAN Range and Performance
July 2, 2003


Traditional access points offer a shared medium, wherein clients take turns transmitting data. This is similar to a hub in a wired Ethernet network. Only one access point can transmit at a particular time. It's possible that two or more clients or access points may transmit at the same time, however, which results in a collision and corresponding packet retransmission. This increases the amount of time it takes to transmit packets, which reduces overall throughput of the wireless LAN.

Switched access points, on the other hand, implement a switching technology similar to what you find in traditional Ethernet switches. Switches enable multiple wireless clients to communicate with the same access point simultaneously and eliminate collisions between packets. The overall result is better range and throughput.

How WLAN Switches Work?
There are a couple of different approaches to switched wireless LANs. One is to have a single access point switch that takes the place of multiple access points. Vivato and Bandspeed are the two primary companies implementing this approach.

Vivato's switches use planar phased array antennas to support simultaneous traffic for up to 150 users. The Vivato switch is a rather large (48"x25"x3") wall-mountable panel and is available in both indoor and outdoor versions. The switches connect to the main network through a single Ethernet port, which also provides power-over-Ethernet (PoE). They can operate in either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands, making them suitable for supporting a variety of requirements.

The indoor version of the Vivato switch generally installs in the corner of a building and provides coverage for an entire floor of a building. It does this by using highly directive, narrow beams that automatically point to specific clients roaming through the facility. Instead of transmitting RF signals in every direction like traditional access points, Vivato uses their PacketSteering technology to concentrate power into a single directional beam, very much like a movable, high-gain directional antenna.

Since the switches use phased-array antennas, they can send different signals in different directions at the same time. This enables simultaneous, collision free transmission among clients associated with the same access point.

Because they use directed signals, Vivato indoor switches have a range of around 300 meters at their maximum throughput. Vivato's outdoor switches will deliver wireless connectivity to a much larger area, with a range up to 4 kilometers. They can also provide wireless connectivity to an entire multi-level building by mounting a Vivato switch within an adjacent building. The switch will then beam coverage throughout the building. This method of deployment is an ideal solution for areas where there are lots of buildings that are close to each other, such as college campuses.

Bandspeed offers a technology that is very similar to the Vivato switch, except that it is somewhat smaller in size. Named Gypsy, the switch technology uses directional antennas to provide 360 degree coverage with a range similar to that of the Vivato switch. Gypsy also supports both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, making it applicable to 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g networks. Bandspeed doesn't sell these switches directly to the public; rather they supply original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original development manufacturers (ODMs) with the technology and products necessary to build the switches and sell to the public.

Another approach to existing switched wireless LAN technology is to have a single Ethernet-based switch that interconnects many small, lower technology access ports (think of them as access points without the brains -- some call them "lite access points") mounted throughout the facility. The access ports offer a low cost method of providing small cells throughout large facilities. This provides users with the performance enhancing qualities of a switch and a highly scalable solution. You can start with a limited solution and add access ports as needed.

The Symbol Mobius System offers this type of technology. Symbol's Axon Wireless Switch runs the control and management functions for the wireless network. All of the intelligence and features found in normal access points fall within the Axon Switch.

The Axon Switch connects to Mobius Access Ports through standard 100BaseT cabling. The relatively small access ports contain the wireless LAN radio and antenna, which you can mount almost anywhere. They support PoE, and also include a second built-in Ethernet port for "daisy chaining" multiple access ports together.

The Mobius system currently supports 802.11a and 802.11b, and is almost ready for 802.11g. The access ports require no configuration because the centralized Axon Wireless Switch includes provides all configuration settings.

The Advantages
Here are some key advantages pertaining to switched wireless LANs:

Increased capacity and range: Switched access points allow you to provide greater coverage with less hardware, which can result in cost savings due related to hardware and installation. Through the use of directed beams, for example, Vivato and Bandspeed switches provide increased range of coverage, close to ten times that of regular access points.
Simpler installation: The use of switched wireless LANs make installation somewhat easier. For example, the Vivato and Bandspeed approaches limit the need to consider RF channel assignments for access points. The switching mechanisms rather than RF channels keeps users apart from each other.
Centralization: There are fewer access points to manage with wireless LAN switches, making configuration and troubleshooting a lot easier. Also, because there are generally fewer components, there is a much lower chance of anything going wrong.
Improved security: It's possible to implement tighter security measures, mainly because centralization limits the number of devices that hackers can exploit.
The Disadvantages
As with anything else, there are some disadvantages to deploying switched wireless LANs. One of the disadvantages is initial cost. For example, the Vivato switches range in price from $8,995 for the indoor model to $13,995 for the outdoor model. These prices are rather steep now, but the prices probably will come down in the future as volumes increase. Also keep in mind that the greater coverage of the switch will likely make the installation of a large wireless LAN less expensive than using traditional access points.

Another issue to consider is newness of the technology. There are no standards for switched wireless LANs. The 802.11 standard doesn't come anywhere close to defining switched wireless LAN technology, except for the Point Coordination Function (PCF) that is an optional medium access method that vendors don't implement.

Certainly any enterprise should consider the use of switched wireless LANs for large-scale deployments. Similar to the massive migration from Ethernet hubs to switches in the mid-1990s, IT managers will likely adopt switched wireless LANs as needs for higher performance wireless LANs proliferate.

Nextel's Spectrum Coup
07.02.03

Nextel Communications Inc.'s (Nasdaq: NXTL - message board) surprise $144 million cash bid for the wireless assets of bankrupt operator WorldCom Inc. (OTC: WCOEQ - message board) has once again sparked interest in the operator's strategy for rolling out high-speed wireless data services in the U.S.

According to a filing with the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan late Monday, Nextel has won the auction for spectrum licenses, network equipment, and tower leases, beating out a previous bid of $65 million from BellSouth Corp. (NYSE: BLS - message board). A spokesperson for WorldCom confirmed the Nextel bid but offered no further comment. The deal won't be made official until it has been approved by a bankruptcy court judge. A hearing is expected on July 8.

WorldCom, which plans to trade under the name MCI when it emerges from Chapter 11 protection but is using the WorldCom name for its bankruptcy proceedings, is the largest holder of Multipoint Microwave Distribution System (MMDS) spectrum in the U.S. MMDS services operate in the 2.1GHz to 2.7GHz band licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), offering 1-Mbit/s data transfer speeds over an area of around 30 miles in a line-of-sight (LOS) configuration (i.e, no big buildings or hills in the way).

WorldCom had been using this licensed spectrum to provide fixed wireless, high-speed Internet services in about a dozen markets in the U.S before its spectacular downfall last year. It holds licenses for over 100 U.S. markets.

Forget the fixed, however, it's what kind of mobile wireless service Nextel might be able to provide with the spectrum that has got analysts talking.

Companies like IPWireless Inc., Navini Networks Inc., and others have been talking about using MMDS frequencies to allow laptop computer users to move between wireless base stations without losing their connection.

Traditional line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) systems don't have the ability to hand off between base stations because the large MMDS modem that is used to send and receive signals from the home is not practical for mobile use.

Analysts say that it may be time for the MMDS technology to migrate to the laptop and mobile phone. "It raises a lot of interesting possibilities that bear close consideration," says Andy Fuertes, senior analyst at Visant Strategies.

Nextel is the only major U.S. carrier that has not yet announced a migration path to third-generation services, and the operator has said in the past that it may consider alternatives to established 3G technology to provide high-speed wireless data services to its business and blue-collar-oriented subscriber base.

The carrier is also known to have already tested similar systems from Flarion Technologies (which doesn't have a technology that operates in this spectrum in the U.S. at the moment) and NLOS wireless kit vendor NextNet Wireless Inc. in the Philippines (see Nextel Trials Flarion's Flash).

Fuertes says he can think of at least four reasons why Nextel wants the spectrum:

It values the fixed wireless infrastructure.
It plans to use the bandwidth to launch a brand-new, wireless WAN service.
It could use the spectrum to provide wireless backhaul for an 802.11 wireless LAN hotspot deployment.
It just likes the feel of RF radiation.
Phil Marshall at the Yankee Group also had a bit of a chin-scratching session about Nextel's plans for the spectrum. "They could use it for a wide-area data service, a bit like a hotspot network, but with more mobility," he conjectures.

Nextel isn't offering much in the way of comment about its plans. "Nextel has made it a practice to pursue valuable spectrum for affordable prices today in order to provide maximum flexibility for the future," writes a Nextel spokesperson in an email reply to questions.

WorldCom originally paid around $1.3 billion for the MMDS licenses in 1999. [Ed. note: gutted!]

WLAN Hotspots to Singe City 3G?
07.07.03

Continued carrier investment in the rollout of public wireless LAN services could cut 3G infrastructure investment in cities and further depress the battered cellular network equipment market, according to the findings of a report from Lehman Brothers.

Despite prevailing uncertainty over the potential success of the much hyped hotspot model (see Readers Split on WLAN v 3G ), the company believes that growing carrier interest in wireless LAN could affect investment in 3G networks.

In its latest report -- Investigating Wireless LANs: A Global View – Lehman Brothers adheres to general market belief that the two wireless technologies will be complementary to one another, but claims that “in metropolitan areas and attractive WLAN spots, buildout of 3G will not need to be as intensive as may have previously been envisaged.”

“It is true that wireless LAN is likely to displace 3G capex and coverage in metropolitan hotspots,” says Will Draper, European wireless services analyst. Draper expects carriers to focus wireless LAN investment in specific metropolitan areas, whilst 3G and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) rollout will be concentrated on wider “urban areas and suburban/rural coverage” respectively.

As a result, Draper believes the overall market for 3G network infrastructure could face a further hit. “We expect to see slightly lower levels of 3G capital expenditure than we have previously seen.”

Lehman’s findings contradict rival analysts' belief that the worst of the wireless equipment market downturn is over (see W-CDMA: When, Not If). If the bruddas are right, this will come as a further blow to traditional equipment vendors such as LM Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY - message board), Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE/Toronto: NT - message board), and Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK - message board).

However, plenty of other analysts dispute Lehman's take on the situation. “From all around the industry we are picking up signals that the infrastructure market is at last stabilizing,” wrote Nomura Holdings Inc.'s Dr Richard Windsor in a statement only last week. “From operators right the way through to component vendors the message is clear; the days of deep spending cuts appear to be over.”

Readers Split on WLAN v 3G
07.04.03

The argument over whether wireless LAN is a true 3G killer, or the biggest hype since, er, 3G, continues to rage following Unstrung’s totally unscientific but absurdly popular Wireless Personality Test conducted last month.

A record 505 readers logged their opinions on the fighting credentials of wireless LAN and 3G -- a bout that finished with a controversial near-split decision. Forty-five percent of respondents believe a public access wireless LAN hotspot is the best way to access wireless data on the move, but another 44 percent back a trusty packet-data cellular network.

Cellular comes out on top in a hardware head-to-head battle between tri-mode WLAN cards and data handsets, however. Fifty-one percent of readers are convinced a cellular “high-heeled fashionista” would have no problems thumping a “low-browed executive” armed only with a laptop.

The results fly in the face of a recent analyst prediction that wireless LAN will establish itself as the dominant wireless infrastructure within the next five years, at the expense of 3G (see WLAN to Squeeze Out 3G). Such findings will also provide some relief to carriers struggling with early deployments of data-intensive, next-generation networks (see J-Phone's Limited Appeal, Japan's 3G Needs a Kick Start and 3G UK Cries for Help).

In fact, it appears that considerable work remains to be done in educating the user on the benefits of wireless LAN. Forty-one percent of readers curse the technology because of configuration problems with their own devices, and a further 19 percent find the whole concept just too damn “geeky.” Another 40 percent are turned off by fears of their spanking new laptop being stolen from public places.

On a final note, Unstrung is now slightly concerned as to the credentials of its reader base. Thirty-eight percent of respondents readily admit to being “a total slut” when deciding upon a wireless technology for personal use. It seems these hapless souls will take any wireless access on offer, regardless of its reputation or track record.

Thankfully, 32 percent of readers express some form of dignity by deeming themselves too sensible to be duped into answering such a question.

Edited by author 07-09-2003 04:36 PM
Boingo Wireless, TSI partner for WiFi-to-cellular roaming

WiFi aggregator Boingo Wireless and Telecommunications Services Inc. (TSI) yesterday announced a partnership to boost Boingo's WiFi roaming services. Under the terms of the deal, TSI will combine its network management and billing systems with Boingo's services, allowing Boingo to offer WiFi-to-cellular (and back) roaming services for both GSM and CDMA networks. The deal will allow Boingo to expand its service footprint and to ink roaming agreements with leading wireless carriers. TSI will provide Boingo with AAA (authentication, authorization, accounting) broker services, authentication for GSM carriers, AAA hosting , data billing support, data clearing, and settlement and customer care services. TSI will also facilitate roaming agreements between Boingo and wireless carriers. No financial details were released.
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TSI and Boingo Wireless™ to Provide Seamless Roaming for Wi-Fi and WWAN Services

Wireless industry expert TSI and leading Wi-Fi roaming provider Boingo Wireless team up to promote seamless WLAN and WWAN roaming to drive mass adoption and increased revenues for wireless operators

TAMPA - July 7, 2003 - TSI Telecommunication Services Inc. (TSI) (www.tsiconnections.com <http://www.tsiconnections.com>;), a global communications technology company, and Boingo Wireless, the leading roaming provider for Wi-Fi Hot Spots, today announced an update to their strategic relationship to accelerate adoption of wireless data roaming by wireless operators and subscribers.

The two companies will combine TSI's long-term wireless industry clearing and settlement expertise with Boingo™'s Platform Services to establish cooperative roaming services for Wi-Fi WLAN networks and WWAN networks. Wireless Operators can leverage Boingo's Platform Services to add fully branded Wi-Fi WLAN services to their existing product offerings, while utilizing their existing relationship with TSI to integrate these services with their existing systems, including combining authentication and billing data into a seamless reporting stream to simplify customer billing.

"By combining TSI's authentication, billing and reporting expertise with Boingo's Hot Spot roaming network and customer software, wireless operators get a quick-to-market solution that unites Wi-Fi and wireless WAN," stated TSI CEO Ed Evans. "With TSI and Boingo, wireless operators get the best of both worlds - traditional roaming settlement and leading Wi-Fi services."

"Wireless Internet access is on the verge of exploding in the United States and abroad," said David Hagan, president of Boingo Wireless. "Wireless operators need to be prepared to address customer requests for a combined Wi-Fi and wireless WAN service. Using Boingo's Platform Services with TSI's clearing, settlement and roaming facilitation services, operators can make WLAN and WWAN services appear seamless - both to the customer and through billing processing."

About TSI
TSI Telecommunication Services Inc. (TSI) is a global communications technology company specializing in innovative business and network engineering solutions that manage and interconnect voice and data systems in 26 countries throughout North America, Central and Latin America, Asia Pacific and Europe. TSI provides technology interoperability, network services and call processing to more than 250 mobile operators, wireline carriers, emerging telecom market entrants and business customers. Products include SS7 intelligent network solutions, clearing and settlement services, voice and data roaming facilitation, fraud management, revenue enhancement solutions and more than 25 other integrated services. TSI is a privately owned corporation headquartered in Tampa, Fla., U.S.A., with offices in major cities throughout the United States and offices in Amsterdam, London, Luxembourg, Beijing and Hong Kong. For more information, visit www.tsiconnections.com <http://www.tsiconnections.com>;.

CUSIP: 87287VAB8 Bloomberg Tickers: TSITEL (Bond) 32497Z (Equity)

About Boingo Wireless
Boingo Wireless, Inc. is an ultra-high-speed wireless Internet service now available in hundreds of locations across the country, such as hotels, airports, cafes, and other public places. Boingo provides business travelers with a wireless broadband Internet connection to improve productivity while on the road. Through its free Wi-Fi software, Boingo makes finding and connecting to Wi-Fi networks point-and-click simple and secure. EarthLink founder and chairman Sky Dayton founded Boingo in 2001 and serves as its CEO. To sign up for Boingo service, or to download Boingo's free Wi-Fi software, visit <http://www.boingo.com>; or call 1-800-U-BOINGO.

Siemen's Combines Wi-Fi, DSL, and HomePlug
July 7, 2003


Efficient Networks , a division of Siemens (Quote, Company Info), today announced a new line of SpeedStream-branded gateways that incorporate not only the modem for a digital subscriber line (DSL) connection, but also include an 802.11g access point as well a model with 802.11g and HomePlug-based powerline networking.

The new product line, which is geared toward ISPs who would then provide them to DSL customers, consists of three units: the SpeedStream 6200 Wireless-Ready DSL Gateway has a five-port 10/100 Ethernet switch and can support Wi-Fi when an 802.11g PC Card is plugged in; the SpeedStream 6300 Wireless DSL Gateway comes with the 11g built in; and the SpeedStream 6400 Powerline/Wireless DSL Gateway has the Ethernet, Wi-Fi and powerline-support all on board. The company has previous offered router products combining the wireless, Ethernet and powerline direct to consumers, but without the built in DSL modem.

Each version of the SpeedStream DSL Gateway comes with embedded software called ControlNet, which is actually controlled by the DSL service provider, to allow them to offer extended services to consumers. It can handle things like content filtering (controlled by the parent in the household), monitoring of Web sites, and time-based access controls (such as preventing teens from getting online until parents get home from work). ControlNet features can be branded and customized by service providers who would offer the gateways to customers.

Each unit can serve as the DSL modem used by the family, or existing customers can take advantage of the integrated WAN/LAN port with the DSL modem they've already got, to get the full gamut of ControlNet features.

The company release on these products says the SpeedStream 6200 and 6300 are shipping now, but no pricing was provided.

Edited by author 07-09-2003 04:43 PM
ReefEdge Connect System 3.3 Nominated for ''Best Wireless Product'' in the 2003 InfoWorld Readers' Choice Awards

ReefEdge Connect System Selected Based on its Ability to Secure and Manage WLANs

ReefEdge, Inc., an industry leader in wireless network infrastructure products, today announced that ReefEdge Connect 3.3 has been nominated as the Best Wireless Product for the InfoWorld Readers Choice Awards. The product was chosen for its comprehensive, open systems that cost-effectively enable the deployment, protection and operation of mission critical WLANs.

ReefEdge products are part of the ReefEdge Wireless Services Fabric(TM), which is the basis for a family of products that address all aspects of the wireless LAN lifecycle: deployment, operations, management, monitoring, and support. The Wireless Services Fabric provides core packet-processing services for security and mobility; closely interlinked core management services for RF monitoring, reporting and multi-site management; and integration services for integrating the wireless LAN with existing network authentication, accounting, directory, logging, and management systems. By linking these components, the Wireless Services Fabric delivers a comprehensive, open, standards-compliant architecture that reduces the cost of deploying and operating a wireless LAN and enables the deployment of mission critical wireless applications across a variety of industries and topologies.

"I am delighted that InfoWorld has selected ReefEdge as a finalist in the Best Wireless Product Category for their Readers' Choice Awards. This recognition is further acknowledgement of the tremendous traction ReefEdge is getting in the wireless LAN market," said Ajei Gopal, CEO of ReefEdge.

The Readers' Choice Awards offer InfoWorld readers a chance to express their opinions of the industry's products, technologies, trendsetters, and events. The categories and award candidates are selected by InfoWorld's senior editorial staff based on technology trends, wave-making products, and the top reviews conducted by the Test Center during the year. Readers then vote on the categories, and their responses are tallied to determine the winners.

To request a ballot, please e-mail readerschoice@infoworld.com. Voting ends Sunday, July 8, 2003. The winners of the InfoWorld Readers Choice Awards will be revealed in the July 28 issue of InfoWorld.

About ReefEdge

ReefEdge (www.reefedge.com) leads the WLAN industry with award winning innovative solutions that enable enterprises to deploy, manage and secure their mission critical wireless networks. Through world-class channel partners and system integrators, ReefEdge provides comprehensive, open solutions that integrate wireless LANs with existing network infrastructure and services such as voice and data applications. Founded in 2000 and privately held, ReefEdge is led by an executive team with extensive experience in the mobile wireless and data networking industries. ReefEdge's corporate headquarters are in Fort Lee, NJ with a European Development Center in Rennes, France, sales offices across the U.S. and worldwide distribution.

RoadPost: Wi-Fi This Way

It takes all kinds to make a Wi-Fi world. The variety of business models being tried fairly boggles the mind. Which ones will win? Place your bets.

Take, for example, RoadPost's. A Canadian firm with a Rockville, Md., office and a customer base over 50-percent American, RoadPost is a long-time player in the niche-y but lucrative mobile telephony roaming business.

The company rents mobile and satellite phones and mobile telephone numbers to U.S. and Canadian business travelers heading to Europe and Asia-Pacific.

For a couple of years now RoadPost has been providing roaming Internet access as well -- with 25,000 dial-up POPs in 150 countries. Now, through partner GRIC Communications, the company will add broadband services: hotel Ethernet and Wi-Fi.

"This is being driven from so many different directions," notes RoadPost president and CEO Morris Shawn. "The most powerful is that people are setting up Wi-Fi networks in their homes and offices, and they want it to be as easy and fast as that when they're outside the country."



What RoadPost now offers is a one-stop shop: all your overseas communications -- whether e-mail or phone or corporate Intranet access -- needs from one supplier, on one bill, with discounts for bundling.

"That's our competitive edge," Shawn says, "that we tie all this stuff together. To have one product that combines all these things is very powerful."

The company currently has some of its corporate customers -- enterprises that buy services in bulk from RoadPost -- market trialing the broadband access services. There will be "a broader introduction of the service," by the end of this year when it will also be made available to individual business customers, and RoadPost will introduce bundled voice-data service packages.

There is a tiny flaw in the business plan, though -- GRIC. Not that there is anything wrong with the service GRIC provides, far from it. Shawn says his company did an extensive evaluation of the market before deciding to partner exclusively with GRIC. It was the best it saw.

"The key is that all access -- whether dial-up, Wi-Fi or Ethernet -- is through the same GRIC client software," Shawn notes. "What we're finding is that customers don't want a separate subscription with a Wi-Fi operator, because they'll need dial-up besides, depending on where they are. Putting it all together on one rate plan is a huge attraction."

The common customer experience wherever the traveler goes is another big plus. They connect the wire -- unless it's a Wi-Fi location -- fire up the GRIC software, select their location from a pull-down list, click the type of connection, enter their ID and password and they're in.

"It's very user friendly," Shawn says.

All the remote authentication is handled by GRIC and settlement is done through online integration with RoadPost's billing system. Shawn insists that GRIC as a company is very easy to work with on all aspects of the relationship. So what's not to like?

According to Shawn, RoadPost customers will have access to some 2,000 GRIC broadband access points, about 1,600 of which are Wi-Fi. That's the most of any aggregator he looked at. The catch is that three quarters of those POPs are in the U.S. The rest are spread -- thinly, we'd have to say -- around the world.

If your target customers are mainly interested in your core services because they travel outside North America, what's the good of having three quarters of your broadband POPs in the U.S. -- where chances are your customers' existing mobiles will work fine, and where they can deal direct with GRIC or some other aggregator if they want Wi-Fi connectivity?

In fairness, the U.S. hotel Wi-Fi and Ethernet market has developed much more quickly than markets in Europe and even Asia-Pacific. There are simply more POPs to choose from here. Still, the European market in particular has been coming on gangbusters recently.

France Telecom recently announced an extension of its deal with the Accor Group hotel chain. It's now committed to putting Wi-Fi in 1,300 Accor hotels. I recently visited Vienna, Austria, where start-up Metronet (which we wrote about earlier this year) has hundreds of hotspots up and running.

They're just the tip of the iceberg. Wi-Fi is breaking out all over in Europe.

Also GRIC expects to double its number of broadband POPs by the end of this year, although Shawn can't say if the geographic mix will change.

Almost every Wi-Fi operator we've talked to recently stresses that getting roaming agreements in place is job one. This may be easier said than done with dueling aggregators looking to lock up the biggest operators in exclusive relationships, but it has to be done.

From RoadPost's point of view especially, Wi-Fi ubiquity through roaming agreements must extend to other parts of the world. It's a global economy and a global village. Customers are not going to sign up for services if they need umpteen subscriptions to cover all the different places they go.

RoadPost will find that out. If GRIC can expand its overseas broaband POPs, RoadPost's combined voice-data roaming service will be very attractive indeed.

Double-barreled boost for enterprise Wi-Fi

By Peter Judge
ZDNet (UK)
July 2, 2003, 5:49 AM PT
URL: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-1022865.html

COMMENTARY--So, 802.11g and WPA security have both been approved, and wireless LANs on the 2.4GHz band have just got faster. 3Com has announced an 802.11g enterprise Wi-Fi product, and Cisco has launched a strategy for Wi-Fi.

All this is a signal for a bigger take-up of Wi-Fi in the enterprise. And that would be no bad thing, if the murmurings about the hype over public Wi-Fi services turn out to be true.

Some analysts are predicting that the Wi-Fi hype will lead to a dot-com style crash amongst public wireless ISPs, though I reckon that the hype is still manageable and the fundamentals are good.

So, if Wi-Fi service providers don't lay a golden egg, vendors will want to sell some more office-based Wi-Fi networks. Of course, it is quite possible that the market for office-based Wi-Fi is being hyped just as much as the service providers. To hear some people talk, you would think that the old wired office network has had its day, and that is certainly not the case.

Whatever the different markets for Wi-Fi do over the next few years, it is certain that right now there is a market for optimistic market research. What turns that research into a bubble is when too many people start to believe it, and forget that market research is usually commissioned by those with a stake in the market who want a bright future for people to invest in.

So, research aside, what is going to make enterprise Wi-Fi start to hum? WPA may be more significant technically, but 802.11g is getting publicity because speed sells. This is the case even though speed has not actually been a barrier to enterprise Wi-Fi (although users do share the bandwidth at an access point, so extra bandwidth means more users).

802.11g's arrival in the office will be powered by its previous success in consumer products. Whatever vendors in both spaces may say, the enterprise Wi-Fi market has a lot of synergy with the consumer market. We all know that products have to be different for the two spaces (if only to justify higher prices for business customers), but there's no denying one thing: the fact that there is a consumer market for this stuff makes it easier for the vendors to produce enterprise versions.

For instance, vendors have been selling "802.11g" products for at least six months to consumers. The standard has been pretty solid for a while, and perfectly ready for sales to the consumer market. While these products don't conform to a final standard, that doesn't matter to consumers, who usually have standalone networks with one access point. Users don't expect to be able to roam with their home Wi-Fi devices into their friends' houses.

Businesses, on the other hand, do need a full standard before they adopt a technology. They have had to wait, for .11g. However, the experience vendors have gained in selling 802.11g to consumers means they don't have to spend a long time preparing 802.11g for businesses; they just need to tweak consumer-grade products to make them business grade.

So, it is no surprise to see 3Com launching a product almost immediately. Others are moving a bit slower, with Intel not expected to bring out its.11g products till the end of 2003. Symbol is being even more cautious, warning that early 802.11g products may have drawbacks, and won't have a .11g card till next year. Symbol's delay may be surprising, since it was ahead of the other enterprise Wi-Fi vendors last September when it launched its wireless switch--a specialized switch that sits in your wiring closet, handling all the wireless LANs that might be attached to your corporate network (and rooting out the ones that shouldn't be there). As I've said before, the wireless switch has become this year's essential enterprise networking product. Symbol's is taking off well, apparently: networks based on it now make up 40 percent of the company's wireless LAN revenue--a much faster take-off than Symbol expected.

So what problems does Symbol see with 802.11g? The company says the products will have trouble when working with .11b clients, including poor roaming and lower battery life. "Backward compatibility is very important to us because we believe that 'b' clients are going to be around for many years, probably another five years," says Gary Singh, senior director of worldwide marketing at Symbol. "The efficiencies that you get from power management in 'b' technology don't exist in 'g' and 'a' today."

Fair enough: that's a testable statement, so I'd advise you to check roaming and battery life on any .11g product before you buy in any big numbers. Symbol is not the only one to give 802.11g a miss: Trapeze is concentrating on .11a, for the stated reason that it is better. It supports more channels and has less interference.

Another point is that the .11g products coming at the end of the year will include combined abg products. "At this point, the alphabet soup will go away," says analyst Richard Webb of Infonetics. Confusion with .11a is indeed an alphabet soup issue, not a technical one. Although .11g's 54Mbit/s speed spec is the same as .11a, neither Singh nor Webb expect a battle between the two. 802.11a is on 5GHz so it will be the standard of choice where interference with other 2.4GHz radio, such as Bluetooth is an issue.

But what of the Cisco launch? At a recent briefing, Symbol spent most of its time picking holes in Cisco's wireless strategy, instead of comparing its products with the other wireless switches that have come along since last September. This is because of Cisco's dominance. A Cisco launch into any networking area, usually late, and always at a higher price, is always seen as legitimizing that area. And it sparks off a time of clarification, when other people figure out the distinguishing features of their own technologies.

Cisco's Structured Wireless Aware Network is no exception. It does not include a specialized wireless switch but bundles together other Cisco products and manages the wireless traffic on the existing Catalyst switches that vast numbers of enterprise customers already have. That may sound like a good idea, but Symbol's Singh dismisses it: "they had to come out with something," he says, "but it's really nothing but a product-bundling approach." Add up all the additional things you need from Cisco, and it comes to ten-times the cost of a switch-based Wi-Fi solution from a vendor such as Symbol, he says.

Other vendors are going to divide up according to how their wireless switches are architected. Do they aim to make you replace the switches in your wiring closet? Not surprisingly, switch vendors like Foundry seem to have solutions in this class. Or do they make an overlay alongside what you have already, saving existing investment? Symbol, Trapeze and others are in this class.

There are plenty of other factors to look for. What kinds of technology do the vendors use to support wireless roaming? And if they have a wireless switch, do you need to have an actual cable from that switch to each access point, or can you tunnel those links through the corporate network?

These questions will get progressively answered as enterprise Wi-Fi moves from infancy to childhood.

CenDyne Takes Wireless to the Game Console
July 9, 2003


CenDyne of Santa Ana, Calif., a maker of connectivity products for items like portable CD-RW drives, is releasing its first 802.11 products next week. The company concentrates on the home market, but its first Wi-Fi products won't be the standard PC Cards and access points. Instead, they're releasing two 802.11b Ethernet-to-Wireless adapters that are specifically for getting a Microsoft Xbox or Sony Playstation2 game console online.

"It's a real rigmarole when you do networking to hook them up," says Paul Goldberg, vice president of marketing at CenDyne. "None of the other products have very specific instructions for hooking up the game consoles."

The other products he's referring to are Ethernet-to-Wireless adapters from companies like D-Link, SMC, and Linksys. While most of these products will work with a game console -- the are configured using a PC with an Ethernet jack, then plug into the embedded Ethernet jack on the console -- they're also meant to work on any product with Ethernet. CenDyne's products, the CenDyne Wireless Xbox Network Adapter and CenDyne Wireless PS2 Network Adapter for PlayStation 2, target the game consoles exclusively.

The company, which resells in stores such as Circuit City, Costco, Fry's, Radio Shack, and others, expects to sell the product in the same areas as the consoles themselves. Instructions in each will also be specific to the consoles.

Setup will require a Windows PC (with Win98 on up to XP) or Macintosh with an Ethernet card, and, of course, the presence of a wireless LAN on the network. The cards can get their IP address via DHCP . Configuration is actually done by connecting to a Web site set up by CenDyne. Goldberg says the Web-based Wizard takes about five minutes to run through. After that, plug it into the console using the included 10Mbps Ethernet cable and it should go online. The adapter uses separate AC power, and has a power button on the front so users don't have to accidentally connect to the network if just playing a one person game.

PlayStation 2 games each have their own individual online components with their own individual monthly costs; Xbox users must sign up for the $50 Xbox Live program to go online with any games that support it. Xbox Live registration lasts for one year. Nintendo's GameCube doesn't come with a built-in Ethernet port.

CenDyne expects the shelf price of its wireless game console adapters to be $99.

Edited by author 07-09-2003 05:32 PM
WiMAX set to overshadow wi-fi

By Caroline Gabriel: Wednesday 09 July 2003, 07:40

THE PAST FEW weeks have seen a storm of debate about the economics and return on investment of Wi-Fi hotspots. What almost all the arguments entirely ignore is the standard lurking on the horizon, which will turn current assumptions on their head. This is the 802.16x wireless metropolitan area network (WMan) specification, which is being developed and promoted by the WiMAX industry group, whose most powerful members are Intel and Nokia.
Intel has called 802.16 "the most important thing since the Internet itself", and even allowing for a dose of self-serving, it is not talking entirely in hyperbole. WiMAX will extend the potential of Wi-Fi to far longer distances – around 30 miles. It is important, and is evolving at the speed of light (in standards terms anyway), but this rapid development is at the cost of the agenda being dominated by two already over-powerful vendors, Intel and Nokia.

WiMAX is showing off its first system profiles and interoperability tests at the the WCA annual conference in Washington DC this week, in a significant step towards making the 802.16a standard, ratified by the IEEE in March, a commercial technology. While a fully mobile version of WiMAX is in the wings, this first release will cover fixed wireless, and its supporters are focusing in particular on broadband last mile in unwired areas, and on backhaul for hotspots. Intel will start to make WMan chips this year and we should see WiMAX products early in 2004.

This is the opportunity for wireless technologies finally to grow up and offer the speed, multimedia support and ubiquity that Wi-Fi can never deliver. WiMAX president Margaret La Brecque is keen to stress the fact that Wi-Fi and WiMAX are complementary, but the newer standard holds all the real power. By providing a backbone for hotspots, based on standards rather than the various proprietary WLan expansion technologies out there, it makes the idea of a ubiquitous wireless network to rival cellular far more realistic than it ever was with Wi-Fi alone, despite the claims of the enthusiasts. The equipment makers are eyeing it keenly – amid all the doubts about the sustainability of the hotspot boom, anything that offers them a new product line plus helps to preserve the interest in Wi-Fi is to be welcomed.

For operators, there is a doubled edged sword. WiMAX operates in a mixture of licensed and unlicensed spectrum, and the initial products will be focused on 2.5GHz and 3.5GHz licensed and 5.8GHz unlicensed bands (though the full standard supports a far wider range of bands). The licensed spectrum gives operators the chance to apply for franchises for fixed wireless broadband provision, especially in rural and remote areas, something Intel is promoting assiduously as a means to increase investment in Centrino-enabled PCs (it now has a director of rural broadband access).

The unlicensed aspect means that independents have the chance to provide backhaul services for hotspots, which have the potential to create a nationwide wireless network. If the operators can control this, as they have been trying to do with Wi-Fi, they will be able to offer parallel, integrated services and achieve a stopgap as they struggle towards ubiquitous 3G – one with lower margins than cellular perhaps, but swifter ROI on lower upfront investment. They certainly have the power and resource to take control from alternative network suppliers, but they may also be condemning their 3G investments to stillbirth.

But the genie is out of the bottle now, and while the operators hesitate, the equipment makers are driving ahead, Intel in the vanguard, and Nokia, which has supported WiMAX from its earliest days, looking forward to the mobile standard and to the chance to add a new form of base station business to its ailing networks unit.

There are significant names missing from WiMAX so far – its initial focus on last mile is indicated by the bias of the membership towards fixed wireless, OFDM specialists (the 802.16 specification is built on an implementation of OFDM from Wi-Lan of Canada), rather than enterprise focused suppliers or mobile carriers. Some major vendors will be taking the usual gamble of trying to establish such market presence for their proprietary solutions as to sideline the industry standard – Motorola with its Canopy broadband fixed wireless platform springs to mind. But these companies will join – Cisco being a critical target – and in the meantime, the really impressive aspect of WiMAX has been its clear focus and unity of purpose. So far, perhaps because of its fairly low numbers, with most of these being smaller companies, it has avoided the complex politics and hidden agendas of most industry bodies – though this comes at the cost of a direction that is highly dominated by Intel and Nokia.

The best example of this is to contrast the political fiasco that scuppered the fast Wi-Fi standard, 802.11a, with the clarity of the 802.16a process. 802.11a had some technological shortcomings, notably its lack of backward compatibility with 802.11b, but its low uptake compared to the ‘g’ version was largely because it was continually delayed by wrangling between the IEEE and the European ETSI standards body. ETSI’s HiperLan standard and 802.11a use the same frequency and so there was pressure to unify the two, but this was achieved painfully, with a separate implementation of "a" for Europe, which has further delayed product roll-out and confused users.

In contrast, WiMAX has set out from the start to harmonize 802.16 and the metropolitan area ETSI standard, HiperMan, and the specifications it showcases this week will demonstrate that unification. All this with remarkably little political in-fighting – the difference between leaving standards bodies to sort out their own futures, and putting a technology in the hands of vendors with a clear commercial objective, and deadline.

These vendors are finally giving broadband wireless the teeth it needs, with a standards base, to take on wired options for the last mile and for long distance networking. The WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) group was actually set up two years ago by Nokia, Ensemble and the OFDM Forum, but gained a new lease of life in April when it was revived by Nokia in collaboration with Intel and added five new members, with nine more joining in May. The non-profit group takes a similar role to the Wi-Fi Alliance in WLans, backing development of wireless Man products based on 802.16 and working on standards certification and interoperability testing.

The initial version of the standard operates in the 10-66GHz frequency band and requires line of sight towers, but the 802.16a extension, ratified in March, uses the lower frequency of 2-11GHz, easing regulatory issues, and does not require line of sight. It boasts a 31 mile range compared to Wi-Fi’s 200-300 yards, and 70Mbps data transfer rates.

Labrecque says that collaborating on mass market products will achieve similar economies of scale to those seen in Wi-Fi WLan devices. She says base stations will cost under $20,000 and support 60 enterprise customers with T1-class connections.

Systems based on the mobile version of the standard, which should ship towards the end of next year, about six months after fixed wireless products, will be able to achieve long distance wireless networking and will have far greater potential than Wi-Fi hotspots to provide ubiquitous coverage to rival that of the cellular network.

Although 802.11x cards will not work on an 802.16 network, the two could be bridged using a router between the two systems, effectively filling the gaps – and the inherent weaknesses – in the hotspot system. An extension of the standard, 802.16a, can operate over 50 kilometers and without line of sight connection, and could provide the last mile link between the national backbone and the high speed WLans. However, volume shipments are not expected for over a year.

Components of the standard
The WiMAX standard, 802.16a, was published in March. It extends the April 2002 line of sight fixed wireless Man standard, which focused on licensed 10-66GHz spectrum. The extension provides for non-line of sight access in low frequency 2-11GHz bands, some of which are unlicensed, and adds support for PMP and mesh technologies, plus boosting the maximum distance from 31 to 50 miles. Both of these standards went largely unnoticed until the WiMAX group was formed, led by Intel and Nokia, to promote and develop commercial solutions. Intel has now promised WiMAX versions of its Centrino chipset for next year, while Nokia says it will have battery and other technical issues solved in time to launch a WiMAX cellphone in two years’ time.

The "b" extension is concerned with quality of service features, while the "c" extension focuses on interoperability. It relates to protocols, test suite structures and test purposes. Similarly, 802.16d focuses on fixing the errata and other protocols not covered by 802.11c.

The "e" taskgroup is working on enhancing the Wireless LAN air interface to support mobile as well as fixed broadband. It incorporates the work of the ad hoc committee, the Handoff Committee. A draft will be completed in July for ballot.

The "d" amendment creates system profiles for compliance testing for 802.16a devices. These tests will be in place within two months.

The overall vision for 802.16 is that carriers would set up base stations connected to a public network. Each base station would support hundreds of fixed subscriber stations, probably mounted on rooftops. The base stations would then use the standard's medium access control layer (MAC) -- a common interface that makes the networks interoperable -- to nearly instantaneously allocate uplink and downlink bandwidth to subscribers according to their needs.

Conceivably, 802.16 MANs could anchor 802.11 hotspots, which serve as wireless local area networks (LANs), as well as servicing end users directly.

The 10 to 66 GHz standard supports continuously varying traffic levels at many licensed frequencies (e.g., 10.5, 25, 26, 31, 38 and 39 GHz) for two-way communications. It enables interoperability among devices, so carriers can use products from multiple vendors and warrants the availability of lower cost equipment. The draft amendment for the 2 to 11 GHz region will support both unlicensed and licensed bands.

Why bother with Wi-Fi when CDMA can do?

By David Berlind, Tech Update
July 8, 2003 3:41 AM PT


I have a question about Wi-Fi (802.11) wireless LAN technologies: Why bother?

If you followed any of my recent trials or tribulations with Handspring's Treo 300, you know that I stumbled upon an application from June Fabrics called PDANet that allowed my notebook to get access to SprintPCS' 2.5G CDMA 1xRTT network at a throughput rate of about 70 to 80 kbps. From a hotel room in Washington, D.C, accessing my email actually worked faster via CDMA 1xRTT than it did via dial up. Can you imagine that? While 70 to 80 kbps doesn't sound like a lot, you'd be surprised at just how sufficient this is for 99 percent of what you do (unless all you do is watch streaming video).

If I can get 70-80 kbps and my hotspot is all of SprintPCS' and Verizon Wireless' coverage area and the "line" is secure (which it is, compared to Wi-Fi) and streaming media isn't a priority for me, why bother with Wi-Fi?

Wi-Fi coverage is spotty, and there are virtually no roaming agreements. If I subscribe to T-Mobile to get coverage at Starbucks, chances are I won't get coverage at the local airport where the provider is Wayport without paying for another subscription. Meanwhile, there's a chance that a single CDMA 1xRTT network covers both and maybe even my office and my home. The more I think about it, the more I wonder whether I can do without a Wi-Fi radio altogether. That way, I don't have to bring two cards with me everywhere I go, and install or fiddle with any software that helps me to manage which wireless network to connect to. Keep it simple stupid: Isn't that what they say?

Want another reason? Recently, there's been talk about voice over IP (VoIP) for Wi-Fi-based handhelds. I've played around with a Microsoft VoIP technology from the company's labs called Portrait that works on PCs and handhelds. Using a PocketPC-based device such as an HP iPaq with a Wi-Fi card, Portrait makes it possible to have a VoIP conversation with someone else using Portrait on another, similarly equipped handheld connected to the Internet. Considering the cost of VoIP (free), the come-uppance of Wi-Fi along with its availability in public settings raises some interesting possibilities. Take the same Wi-Fi/VoIP-equipped handheld into a public hotspot and, from a functional point of view, what's the difference between that and a cell phone? In that scenario, could Wi-Fi present a threat to the existing wireless carriers?

But given the uphill climb that's necessary to turn VoIP into a killer application for both the Internet as well as wireless handhelds (thus turning the handhelds into data- and voice-capable terminals), there is little choice but to reconsider the CDMA-connected handheld. The wireless voice provided by CDMA-based, data-capable phones is as good as wireless voice gets and the calls are practically free when you look at the number of minutes you get with just about any package. Combine that with a better hotspot and built-in security, and CDMA continues to look better than Wi-Fi.

What about the GSM(voice)/GPRS(data)-based 2.5G alternative to CDMA? Currently, the real world data throughput for GPRS is running at about half (30-40 kbps) of what people are getting out of CDMA. At that speed, most networked applications are noticeably degraded. Until that situation improves, I can't recommend the GSM/GPRS option--except for world travelers (GSM/GPRS is the standard most everywhere else in the world) and for people who want their data sessions to be interrupted for inbound calls. That feature is not yet available for CDMA.

Another feather in CDMA's cap is its future. Currently, most CDMA deployments are of the 1xRTT flavor. However, Verizon Wireless is prepping two cities --- San Diego and Washington, D.C. --- for a CDMA 1xEV-DO rollout. What's the difference? Oh, just a few hundred kilobits per second. Compared to 1xRTT's theoretical peak throughput of 144 kbps, 1xEV-DO's peak is 2.4 mbps. But like 1xRTT, which delivers far less than its advertised peak, 1xEV-DO is predicted to deliver somewhere between 400 and 800 kbps. That's faster than most cable or DSL connections.

I asked Verizon Wireless' corporate communications executive director Andrea Linskey whether her company was having any thoughts about how CDMA (1xRTT or EV-DO) could be a better strategic wireless target than Wi-Fi, even for people working in their offices and homes. In addition to CDMA 1xRTT-based connectivity, Verizon is rolling out public Wi-Fi hotspots in places like airports through a partnership with Wayport. Although Linskey said she believes that Verizon "could go pure CDMA," she made it clear that the carrier was not trying to intercept businesses leaning in the direction of Wi-Fi in hopes of getting them to reconsider that decision.

"For now," said Linskey, "we don't view Wi-Fi as a threat to the CDMA business. We see it as complementary. In campus settings, businesses may be likely to launch with Wi-Fi as the in-building, wireless alternative. Out of the buildings, they can choose to go with Express Network." Express Network is Verizon's brand name for its wireless wide area network (WWAN). "Carriers like AT&T and Verizon are hedging. While we are waiting to see what becomes of the de facto wireless standard, we're preparing to roll out in 2004 a product that makes switching between a company's native Wi-Fi network and Express Network automatic for someone [with radios for both]. It will detect and automatically connect to the right network. Before then, however, customers will have to manually select which network to use."

Today, Verizon Wireless offers an all-you-can-eat data plan for approximately $80 per month. It requires a CDMA 1xRTT-based PC Card or one of Verizon's phones with Verizon's Mobile Office Kit. Ideally, the way to go is to share one radio --- presumably a phone --- for voice and data communications. One radio means one account and keeps things relatively simple. The best way to connect a device to a phone is through Bluetooth. But, currently, Verizon Wireless isn't reselling a Bluetooth-based CDMA-enabled handset, which means that any time a connection to the CDMA network is desired by a PDA or notebook computer, a hardwired connection is required between the device and the phone. Is a Bluetooth-enabled phone in the offing? "Verizon Wireless has extremely stringent quality requirement for its handsets," said Linksey. "We're testing some units now but have nothing to announce."

Meanwhile, Verizon's biggest CMDA 1xRTT competitor, SprintPCS, has announced it will be offering Sony Ericsson's Bluetooth-enabled T608i starting this month. However, that offering could be in jeopardy: Sony Ericsson announced recently that it would be discontinuing CDMA phones in the U.S. In response to an inquiry about what SprintPCS plans to do should Sony Ericsson stop production on the T608i, company spokesperson Suzanne Lammers told me, "We're still looking at our options, and should be able to give you an answer fairly soon. It's possible that we may carry only limited quantities through select channels, but nothing has been confirmed yet."
    
IDC wireless analyst Shiv Bakhshi concurs with Linskey that the CDMA and Wi-Fi are currently complementary, but agrees that a more robust CDMA could be viewed as a Wi-Fi replacement.

"1xEV-DO, if it works, could be a confrontation to Wi-Fi," said Bakhshi. "Once 1xEV-DO comes on line, it only has to come at 400 kbps of throughput to satisfy most users. The question is whether the underlying backhaul to the Internet will be able to handle the load. It could be like sucking a watermelon through a cocktail straw." In light of the fact that Verizon Wireless is just now piloting 1xEV-DO in only two cities, Bakhshi doesn't see that confrontation happening any time soon. In addition, Bakhshi told me, "Neither CDMA nor GPRS are very good at penetrating buildings. In fact, outside, they're still not particularly good."

But, in the same way the WWAN technologies exhibit weaknesses indoors, Bakhshi questioned the business model for all of these public Wi-Fi hot spots that are showing up everywhere. "Maybe in specific areas like at airport gates," he said, "where a lot of people need to get on just before the plane takes off. In situations like this, the cellular technologies don't scale very well. The radio resources of the cell network are constrained. For example, if 15 people make calls from the exact same spot, do they all get on? No. So, in certain spaces where there's lot aggregation of people, maybe that's where it makes more sense to improve the local radio resources through Wi-Fi."

Like Verizon Wireless' Linskey, Bakhshi thinks that, for the time being, the best solution for people who need anytime, anywhere access is to run a blend of both technologies. Echoing Verizon Wireless' recognition that switching between two wireless technologies needs to be seamless, Bakhshi said: "A CDMA 1xRTT / Wi-Fi combination card would be a nice thing to have along with the software that makes it simple to switch between the two." Such combination cards do exist. For example, last year, GTRAN Wireless introduced a dual mode CDMA 1xRTT/Wi-Fi card using Intersil's Wi-Fi chipset. On the software side, solution providers appear to be responding to users that want seamless switching between the two radios. In addition to Verizon Wireless' promise to address the issue by next year, companies like NetMotion Wireless [link: www.netmotionwireless.com] are providing software solutions like Netmotion Mobility and partnering with wireless network providers such as GSM/GPRS-based AT&T.

Ultimately, whether CDMA or any other 3G technology will be able to kick Wi-Fi's butt may be determined by cost. Right now, all-you-can-eat data plans from Verizon Wireless and SprintPCS cost about $80 per user, per month , How will that compare to the per user total cost of ownership for Wi-Fi? One cost and administrative headache that's eliminated by a pure-CDMA strategy is the securing of the local air. When you outsource your wireless networking to a wireless carrier, you're also outsourcing at least one element of your security. In either case (Wi-Fi or CDMA), going wireless in a public scenario requires a virtual private network if someone has to get behind a corporate firewall, so that cost is a wash between the two options anyway. But with Wi-Fi, the additional measures needed to secure the air require a measure of expertise, expense, and time that some would rather avoid.

Putting a finger on the per user TCO for Wi-Fi isn't quite as simple because there are certain breakpoints in company size where the infrastructure costs take a sudden leap. Gartner analyst Phillip Redman told me, "I don't think you can say [what the per user TCO] is definitively. It has to be based on usage." Even so, Redman has developed two scenarios: one where the WLAN is a primary network for small offices and a second where the WLAN is a complementary network for large offices. Whereas the per user annual TCO for the former (assuming a small office of 45 users with occasional additional part timers) was $10,000, the same for a mid-size to large office is about $3,052.

Regardless of the comparison, the question I keep asking myself is this: For $960 per year, would I be willing to put up with lower bandwidth if it meant being able to cruise around a bigger hotspot without having to manage two separate radios or worry about roaming between providers at Starbucks and the airport? When I asked Verizon Wireless' Linskey what she thought the much higher performance 1xEV-DO service might cost, I was surprised to hear her say, "We haven't priced the data-only service yet. But my expectation is that it will be similar to the things you're seeing on 1xRTT right now."

If that's the case, sign me up. If everyone else is so gung-ho about Wi-Fi, more power to them. If there aren't more CDMA believers like me, perhaps the congested scenario that IDC's Bakhshi speaks of will never happen. Of course, if you're located in the sticks where none of the 2.5G or 3G networks are floating about, then Wi-Fi connected to a local DSL, cable, or T1 backhaul may be your only choice. So, Wi-Fi isn't dead. But I'd love to see something like 1xEV-DO take off.

CDMA over Wi-Fi? Am I off my rocker or am I onto something? If your warehouse or facility had great CDMA 1xRTT coverage from a provider like Sprint or Verizon Wireless, would you consider going with that for all your mobile users instead of Wi-Fi? Especially since they could roam beyond the confines of your campus? Use TalkBack to let your fellow ZDNet readers know what you think. Or write to me at david.berlind@cnet.com. If you're looking for my commentaries on other IT topics, check the archives.