Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wi-Fi Goes Trucking

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 08:24:37 -0500

Sprint PCS Gets Serious About WiFi Build-Out
Contributed by derek on Thurs, Nov 6 2003

Mike reviewed Sprint PCS' initial foray into WiFi, wherein Techdirt
essentially supported Sprint's choice to roam onto Wayport, but
chastised the high price points offered. Today, Sprint ups the ante with
a commitment to build-out hotspots at 3000 truckstops across the US.
Apparently 25% of the 4.5M US truckers have laptops, and present a
viable market opportunity for WiFi. I think Sprint is making a
relatively smart move, here: The truckers are probably heavy cell phone
users, and will shift towards SprintPCS for voice and 1xRTT data
access.  Furthermore, one of the problems of PWLAN is that there is no
roaming, so a mobile professional like me needs 5 different WiFi
accounts during any given business trip. However, by targeting and
locking up an entire market segment, the roaming issues are greatly
diminished. The big problem with the announcement was arithmetic:
Sprint says they will bring on 300 truck-stops per quarter, with a goal
of 3,000 over the five year agreement??

www.techdirt.com
===============================================================================

Wi-Fi Goes Trucking
BY SUSAN RUSH
NOVEMBER 6, 2003

The vision of a trucker -- a lone wolf riding the highways of America --
is about to get a makeover. That is if Sprint and Truckstop.net have
anything to say about it.  The duo has hooked up to bring Wi-Fi access
to 3,000 U.S. truck stops, helping truckers stay connected with family
members and work more efficiently on the road.

The partnership calls for Sprint to power the wireless Internet service,
which will enable truckers to connect to home, communicate with their
base stations, and ultimately let businesses manage routes, information
and load pickups on the fly.
Initial rollout consists of 25 locations, including 17 Rip Griffin Truck
and Travel Centers in the West and Southwest. The plan is to bring 300
locations online per quarter with a goal of directly powering 3,000
truck stops over the term of the five-year, multi-million agreement.

By forging roaming agreements, the number of Wi-Fi-enabled sites
available to truckers could balloon to more than 11,000, Sprint says. To
access the Wi-Fi network, users initially will need to supply their own
equipment -- a laptop with a wireless network card or a Wi-Fi-enabled
PDA -- but plans are in the works to let users borrow equipment while at
the truck stops.
The transportation industry is a hotbed for wireless technology growth.
'There are more than 4.5 million truckers on the road in North America
and 25 percent have laptops,' says Rip Griffin Truck and Travel Centers
President Mark Griffin.
Several companies are tapping into the transportation market. Qualcomm,
for example, has successfully tapped into the market through fleet
management.  The company first jumped into the arena in 1988 when it
introduced OmniTRACS, a satellite-based mobile communications system
designed to help transportation companies manage their fleets. Since
then, Qualcomm has shipped more than 480,000 OmniTRACS units worldwide.
In September, the company made a play to snatch up assets of Alcatel
Mobicom, a move designed to make Qualcomm Wireless Business Solutions
Europe one of the largest providers of transportation logistics in
Europe.

http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=newsat2direct&starting=4&pubdate=11/06/03

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