Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FLARION is on FIRE~~~ Nextel's Wireless Internet Connection Trial Is Hit]

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 08:42:53 -0400

Wednesday, May 12, 2004 
Nextel's Wireless Internet Connection Trial Is Hit in North Carolina 
Test Area
May 12, 2004 3:21am
Knight-Ridder / Tribune Business News

May 12--Bill Gross is among a few hundred consumers trying a zippy 
new Internet offering that Nextel Communications is testing in the 
Triangle.

With it, computer users can wirelessly connect to the Internet at 
speeds rivaling those in the office. They can link to the Web 
anywhere -- sitting at home, strolling down a sidewalk or hiking in 
the woods -- and download video or other large files in seconds.

It's a useful service, said Gross, an estimator with Sparkman 
Construction in Raleigh. He just seldom uses it.

Nextel offers the network in a region roughly bordered by Fuquay-
Varina and Durham. Most of Gross' work at the commercial-building 
company is outside that territory. When he's inside it, he can 
easily scoot to the office to handle most communications.

"It's not that big an advantage right now," he said. "It will be a 
very useful tool once they do get it out to the point where it has 
enough range to do some people some good."

Across the country, the nation's biggest mobile-phone companies are 
experimenting with wireless, high-speed Web links to find the right 
recipe of coverage and price to appeal to consumers' penchant for 
mobility. They figure it's only a matter of time before computer 
users, hooked on Wi-Fi at hotels, airports and cafes, will demand 
the same fast service everywhere. And they want to be prepared.

"It is becoming a bit of an arms race," said Seamus McAteer, senior 
analyst with the Zelos Group, a San Francisco market research firm.

For consumers, the improvements could mean new freedom as they gain 
the ability to quickly surf the Web untethered to any structure. It 
also could lead to more confusion. The carriers are investigating a 
wide variety of technologies with their own benefits, drawbacks and 
acronyms. 

Nextel plans to test its service in the Triangle through the end of 
the year before deciding whether to install it elsewhere. Verizon 
Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile-phone company, is trying a high-
speed Internet service in San Diego and Washington and will 
introduce it in more markets by December.

AT&T Wireless, which is merging with Cingular Wireless, will set up 
a faster Web service in at least four markets, including San 
Francisco and Seattle, this year. Alltel also will test a high-speed 
network by year's end.

Skeptics say the industry should proceed with caution. Wireless data 
services have been slower to take hold with U.S. consumers than with 
those in Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom. Most U.S. mobile-phone 
customers just want to talk.

And at $50, $70 or more per month -- the going rates for the high-
speed test services -- they'll probably be uninterested, especially 
when they can connect to the Web for free in many public locations 
with alternative technology.

"I would characterize it as a gamble," said Avi Greengart, wireless 
analyst with Jupiter Research, a market research firm, in New 
York. "The consumer demand part of the equation is not clear."

That's why the carriers are taking the temperature of select 
markets. 

Two decades ago "it was ludicrous to suggest that anybody would want 
to carry a phone with them," said Mark Carney, Nextel's data sales 
manager for the area. Now almost 1 billion people worldwide have the 
devices. 

"What we're trying to make an assessment of is whether that same 
opportunity exists in the broadband world -- is there value to 
carrying É the Internet with them," he said.

Carriers have long believed that data would prove a lucrative tool 
for increasing revenue and enhancing profitability. They spent 
billions on upgrades that have ushered in a host of new features, 
including camera phones, downloadable ring tones and games. The 
networks are good enough for sending e-mail and basic Web surfing, 
but some features can seem sluggish. 

With higher-speed connections, consumers can zip large files almost 
instantly. And they can make use of new applications coming for 
mobile phones, such as sending and receiving video.

"I think the wireless companies, the carriers, the device 
manufacturers, they all see this as inevitable," said Ritch Blasi, a 
spokesman for AT&T Wireless. "It's going to go there."

First, mobile-phone companies must convince business customers of 
the benefits. Salespeople and other professionals constantly on the 
go should most appreciate a high-speed service, they figure.

Nextel says that it is testing its Flarion technology in the 
Triangle because of the high-tech work force, the universities and 
the presence of large customers such as Cisco Systems. They can put 
the service through its paces as Nextel looks for glitches.

Kerry Noble says the network has given him a leg up on real-estate 
rivals. The broker with Fonville Morisey Realty tools around the 
Triangle with a laptop computer and wireless Internet access as fast 
as any wired connection he uses. When clients want data on a home 
listing, he connects -- anytime, anywhere.

He doesn't have to find a coffee shop with Wi-Fi. There's no 
fumbling with credit cards or downloads to make it work. Noble can 
log on from almost any Triangle roadway, driveway or stoop. 

Clients have "been impressed by the fact that we have that 
connectivity when we're out on our feet," he said. Some have 
been "sold on working with me because I'm equipped the way I'm 
equipped."

Mobile phone companies hope for such testimonials, which suggest 
their upgrades could produce profits.

Even so, the carriers might never blanket every inch of the country 
with high-speed, wireless Web access, analysts said. The cost of 
doing so would simply be too high. And where they do, likely the 
most populated areas, the networks will slow as more people log on 
to access the Web.

That means current technologies will remain important. When 
customers are out of range for the newest wireless technologies, 
they could slide back to those services or Wi-Fi, which is evolving 
with enhancements.

Carriers see a wireless future where many technologies interact 
seamlessly. In an ideal world, a worker would log onto a Wi-Fi 
network in the office. When he enters his car, his connection moves 
to a broadband network operated by a mobile-phone company. As he 
drives into the country, the connection automatically drops to one 
of the current, and slower technologies, but remains useful. When he 
gets into his garage, the home Wi-Fi network kicks in.

"It's not like one silver bullet blows all the rest away," said 
Hamish Caldwell, executive director for product management at 
Cingular Wireless. "The silver bullet is pulling them all together."

To see more of The News & Observer, or to subscribe to the 
newspaper, go to http://www.newsobserver.com.

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