Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Crafting a wireless network strategy

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 16:15:34 -0500

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Crafting a wireless network strategy

Source: Network World

Publication date: 2002-11-18

Arrival time: 2002-11-22

Confused about which technol

Pockets of wireless connectivity abound, making mobile and remote
work easier than ever. The trouble is with today's wealth of
wireless networks - mobile 2.5G WANs, satellite, broadband wireless
last-mile Internet access, Bluetooth personal-area networks, and
paging and messaging services - in various stages of standardization
and deployment, and applications overlap, make crafting an
integrated wireless network plan a tough task (see graphic, page
29).

Travelers Property Casualty uses a mix of 2.5G services from
Sprint PCS with satellite to balance coverage and cost when
processing claims from its Catastrophe Response Vehicles in the
field.

"Where there are gaps in Sprint coverage, the vans switch over to
satellite," says Raul Matamoros, vice president of
telecommunications. Matamoros says Travelers is experiencing 50K bit/
sec speeds fairly consistently with the new Sprint service.

New networks

This year, mobile carriers AT&T Wireless, Sprint PCS and T-
Mobile finished upgrading their US. network infrastructures to 2.5G
packet-switched technology. Per-subscriber throughput is between 20K
and 60K bit/sec - a big boost from 14.4K bit/sec,2G network speeds,
but still a far cry from broadband speeds.

Pricing plans for 2.5G vary from the top five U.S. mobile WAN
carriers but average about $50 per month for a respectable chunk of
data usage. Unlimited usage costs about $100 per month. Handsets
with 2.5G capability that bundle voice access with HTML browsers,
Microsoft applications, digital cameras and other functions cost
about $200. By contrast, mobile satellite service from Globalstar
and Iridium target voice applications with their below-10K bit/sec
speeds. Service can cost up to $4 per minute for roaming, and basic
satellite phones cost from $500 to $1,500. So think "rental" for
those infrequent trips to the hinterlands.

Wi-Fi fanfare

IEEE 802.11b, or Wi-Fi, technology dominates wireless LAN
deployments. These networks provide 11M bit/sec wireless connections
in homes and public places.

"Wi-Ft, used within the home for sharing a broadband Internet
access link, is the primary driver of Wi-Fi in businesses and hot
spots, says In-Stat/MDR senior analyst Gemma Paulo.

This occurs because once home users get a taste of broadband
access from anywhere around the house, they start pressuring their
IT departments for the same flexibility in the office and on the
road.

Paulo cites wireless routers, which combine a Wi-Fi radio access
point, last-mile broadband connections and IP routing, as "the
hottest networking product for the home" She estimates that
worldwide home wireless router shipments will reach 6 million this
year, and jump to 11 million in 2003.

For mobile executives, commercial Wi-Fi services are emerging
from many types of companies for a $30 to $75 monthly subscription
fee or a per-day connection charge of usually less than $10.
Companies focused specifically on Wi-Fi services are often called
wireless ISPs (WISP). Wayport is perhaps the largest WISP, offering
services in 475 hotels and 10 airports. Smaller WISPs include
Airpath Wireless and Surf and Sip.

Boingo Wireless doesn't build its own wireless network, but
instead offers subscriptions to services that span the aggregated
footprint of many partner Wi-Fi networks. In this way, one
subscription buys users coverage in more places. Imminent Boingo
competitors will be iPass and GRIC, which are just getting started
in Wi-- Fi to complement their international remote-access
aggregation businesses.

T-Mobile is the first carrier to commit to widespread Wi-Fi
services as a high-- speed complement to its mobile WAN services,
while others such as Cingular Wireless and Nextel Communications are
still agonizing over the Wi-Fi service business case.

"I must take into consideration my current investment and what I
have to pay to Mr. [Federal Communications Commission Chairman
Michael] Powell" for 3G wireless spectrum, said Andrew Goddard,
director of Cingular's Professional Services Group, at a recent
meeting of the Silicon Valley Chinese Wireless Technology
Association. "Hot spots will be built, whether I build them or not."

The same themes apply to wireless network decisions as those that
have come before: Sometimes you have to trade off bandwidth for
distance.

Although Wi-Fi service deployments are on the upswing, it will be
a while before they are installed at every truck stop. In the
meantime, look to wireless LANs, mobile WANs and even Bluetooth PANs
to solve different communications and cabling problems.As client
hardware and software vendors continue with their multinetwork
integration efforts, the technology-management and cost burdens will
ease up for users and IT departments.

A 2.5G world

Although Wi-Fi service deployments are n the upswing, it will be
a while before they are installed in every truck stop.

Wexler is an freelance networking technology writer/editor who
writes Network World's Wireless in the Enterprise newsletter. She
can be reached at joanie @jwexler.com.

Copyright Network World Inc. Nov 18, 2002

Publication date: 2002-11-18

© 2002, YellowBrix, Inc.

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