wireless networks

Firm looks to resurrect defunct muni WiFi network in Tempe, Ariz.

Lynnette Luna — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 04:08:07 -0400

A citywide muni-WiFi network in Tempe, Ariz., that went dark months ago is drawing attention from Computers and Tele-Comm (CTC), which runs wireless networks in the Kansas city area and in the Hilton and Hyatt hotel chains. CTC has asked Tempe's city council to consider such a deal, but it wants some concessions. For example, the contract's penalty for failure to provide service was a "rent" of $500 per pole; CTC wants that lowered to $50. The system was first brought on line in 2005, but it didn't effectively cover the entire city, and that inability to blanket all of Tempe hurt the company's marketing efforts. Also causing a problem were the numerous stucco homes that have a blocking effect on WiFi signals.

For more:
- check out the East Valley Tribune

Related story:
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Gartner: 3G laptops to become enterprise must-have

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Laptops embedded with 3G are likely to become a must-have for the business world starting next year because new technologies and better pricing plans are making them more attractive, says research group Gartner. The firm said the high cost of hardware and expensive monthly charges have so far kept the enterprise from investing in 3G-enabled laptops, but that should begin changing at the end of this year, said Ken Dulaney, vice president with Gartner.

"Our standing recommendation against embedding wireless WAN (WWAN) cards in notebooks--except for applications with a clear return-on-investment justification--has been based on lack of global coverage, high costs and poor asset protection," Dulaney said. "However, new technologies and pricing due by the end of 2008 have the potential to eliminate the problems of embedded, wireless 3G notebook purchases."

Gartner says the advent of new chipsets that combine multiple technologies and frequency bands to offer better coverage would make 3G laptops a good proposition for the moderate to extensive traveler in 2009. In addition, 3G operators are beginning to see the value in moving beyond the standard two-year contracts to include daily and monthly rates, much like WiFi providers offer today. Operators are also considering plans for allowing international travelers to use local rates on a pay-per-day basis, Gartner said.

For more on this story:
check out TechWorld

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Motorola: WLAN poised to replace enterprise wired networks

Mon, 05 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

Motorola made the case for the enterprise to cut the wires during the Interop conference in Las Vegas. Kathy Paladino, president of enterprise mobility with Motorola, told conference attendees that wireless LANs are at the point where they should motivate enterprises to go all wireless. She said new standards such as 802.11n are offering the enterprise wired-like data speeds, reliability and security to WLAN networks. In addition, cost savings provide a compelling proposition to move all wireless. Paladino said wired networks cost 10 times that of WLANs to deploy and maintain.

"The technology is ready, and the time is now to make the shift," she said.

For more about Motorola's all-wireless views:
- check out this InformationWeek article

Verizon plans femtocell rollout this year

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:59:57 -0400

Verizon Wireless CTO Tony Melone said at the CTIA Wireless 2008 trade show last week that the carrier would begin offering femtocell products and service plans sometime this year. The announcement follows a move by Sprint into the femtocell arena. AT&T also is said to be evaluating a femtocell offering.

What remains to be seen is what Verizon will charge for the femtocell device and the service plan. Sprint charges around $50 for the product and $15 per month for service. Verizon's commitment, broader than Sprint's thus far and the only one by a U.S. telco that has both local wireline and wireless networks, may well bring femtocell deployment to its tipping point in the U.S. market.

To read more about Verizon's femtocell plans:
- take a look at this article from AP

Also, check out our recent webinar: Fixed Mobile Convergence:
Are femtocells and UMA/WiFi solutions competitive or complementary?

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ICO to deliver DVB-SH services soon via satellite

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:59:53 -0400

Satellite company ICO Global Communications announced plans to deploy a GEO satellite on April 14 that will deliver a satellite-hybrid terrestrial network using mobile TV technology DVB-SH.

After the satellite is launched, the company plans to begin market trials in Las Vegas and Raleigh-Durham in mid-2008 of what it calls ICO MIM, Mobile Interactive Media. The trials will focus on three areas: entertainment using DVB-SH for mobile TV services, guidance services that will include real-time traffic data and social networking applications and assistance services, which will offer OnStar-like roadside services.

Initially, the service will consist of a "set-top box in the trunk" to deliver these services, said Tim Bryan, CEO of ICO during an Alcatel-Lucent press briefing here at CTIA. Later, the company plans to offer dockable portable mobile and OEM-installed devices. Direct delivery to handhelds is possible in the future.

Partners in the trial include Alcatel-Lucent, which is providing the DVB-SH technology, Hughes and WiMAX operator Clearwire, which adds a wireless broadband offering to the mix. Last fall, Clearwire announced a joint agreement with ICO. Craig McCaw, who founded Clearwire, owns a 75-percent voting interest in ICO.

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Muni-WiFi player Azulstar shifts gears to WiMAX

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:59:57 -0400

Muni-WiFi vendor Azulstar said it plans to upgrade all of its existing muni-WiFi networks with WiMAX. Using equipment from Airspan Networks and Redline Communications, Azulstar will roll out WiMAX across 15 cities in the Midwest and Southwest, including the nation's first muni-WiFi market Grand Haven, Mich., which will be the first market to upgrade. The vendor is using licensed 3.6 GHz spectrum.

The WiMAX network is in final stages of testing in Grand Haven and first customers are being connected. The network will overlay the existing unlicensed WiFi mesh networks, which will continue to operate supporting visitors and residential customers as long as there is demand. Legacy WiFi customers wanting to move to WiMAX will receive a discount toward their adapter.

Azulstar, which cites WiMAX as having better economics, performance and reliability, said it will continue its strategy of owning and operating municipal wireless networks in regions where it can also deploy licensed-spectrum WiMAX. In existing Azulstar projects where WiFi technology is the only viable option due to spectrum limitations, Azulstar has migrated to a subcontractor role, assisting the municipalities and partners achieve their goals, but no longer acting as the network owner.

To find out more about Azulstar's WiMAX plans:
- check out this release

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Meru: New access point software upgradeable to 802.11n

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Meru Networks says it has introduced the first WLAN access point that conforms to legacy IEEE 802.11a/b/g standards but can be upgraded with just a software update to the higher performing 802.11n draft 2.0 standard. The move is significant given the fact that enterprises must rip out existing 802.11 a/b/g gear if they want to move to 802.11n, which offers higher throughput and capacity.

Meru says when enterprises decide to upgrade to 802.11n using its new AP302 access point, they only pay for a new software license, avoiding new hardware costs and the disruption of new installations.

For more about Meru's new access point:
- check out this release

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Covad's experiment with muni-WiFi comes at right time

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:59:58 -0500

With EarthLink dropping out of the muni-WiFi market and plans imploding across the country, you have to wonder why broadband operator Covad has any interest at all in muni-WiFi. But the company, which wants to extend the reach of its fixed-line broadband services to hard-to-reach areas, has agreed to test a network in San Carlos, Calif., as part of the struggling Silicon Valley Network, that ambitious WiFi initiative that aims to blanket 1,500 sq. miles with WiFi. (See story No. 1)

In reality, this might be the right time for Covad to become involved with muni-WiFi as it's becoming clear what business cases are successful. Clearly, free WiFi is not the optimal business model, but one of a mixed-use that involves the government as an anchor tenant and offering service to the public. Enough failures have shown what works and what doesn't in terms of a business model.

The other WiFi business model that is emerging--and one Covad might be most interested in--is one centered on regional wireless networks in rural areas where broadband access is sparse. The state of Vermont, for instance, aims to have 100 percent broadband coverage in the state by 2010 by helping fund wireless ISPs throughout the state. That type of model, of course, is what Silicon Valley Network aims to do in California.--Lynnette

Google could buy into airborne transceiver idea

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:59:55 -0500

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Google is considering contracting with or buying up a wireless services firm that uses gas-filled balloons 20 miles up in the stratosphere to blanket the thousands of square miles below with wireless signals. The company is called Space Data and currently provides telecom services to truckers and oil companies but aims to provide services to rural Americans. Space Data makes use of 10 balloons a day, which it launches across the Southern U.S.

For more on Space Data and Google:
- see the full article from the WSJ (sub. req.)

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Beijing operator embarks on ambitious WiFi plan

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:59:53 -0500

Chinese service provider CECT-Chinacomm and infrastructure provider Azalea Networks have embarked on an ambitious plan to unwire Beijing in time for the Summer Olympics. The city, which spans 6,500 square miles, will provide public access, traffic management and military/public-safety applications along with serving as the wireless backbone for the Olympics. CECT-Chinacomm is funding the network buildout but the Beijing government is serving as an anchor tenant.

Azalea Networks says Phase 1 of the WiFi, which represents about 10 percent of planned mesh footprint, should go live in April.

For more about the Beijing project:
- check out this article from MuniWireless

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AT&T extends 3G deployments, backs LTE for 4G

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

AT&T announced plans to extend its deployment of 3G in the U.S. The WCDMA/HSDPA operator said its 2008 deployment plans include building out service to more than 80 additional cities, which will result in AT&T 3G service in 350 top U.S. markets by the end of this year. The move calls for more than 1,500 additional cell sites nationwide, which is good news for vendors complaining about the lack of growth in the U.S. market.

Other plans in 2008 include completion of the nation's first High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)-enabled network by the middle of the year. Not surprisingly, the operator announced plans to deploy LTE as its 4G standard.

For more about AT&T's 3G plans:
- check out this cellular-news.com article

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Fujitsu enters mobile WiMAX base station market

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:59:55 -0500

Fujitsu threw its hat in the mobile WiMAX base station market, introducing a family of products for the 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands. The products have been developed with partner Airspan Networks under a four-year agreement that calls for the two to co-build and market the new line of base stations. Fujitsu is branding the products as BroadOne WX, while Airspan is marketing them as MacroMAXe.

Before you think Fujitsu is a newbie to this market, consider the fact that the vendor is reportedly the front runner to win some big business with KDDI, which is spending some $1.3 billion on building a WiMAX network. In addition, Fujitsu won the sole award to build NTT DoCoMo's LTE network and has some 20,000 base stations deployed with the operator today.

To read more about Fujitsu's entrance into the WiMAX base station market:
- read this article from Unstrung
- check out this release

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Economy doesn't appear to hurt 700 MHz auction

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:59:58 -0500

Fears about the economy's impact on the 700 MHz auction have been unfounded. After 26 rounds of bidding, the auction has raked in more than $18 billion in provisionally winning bids, exceeding the FCC's expectations of between $10 billion and $15 billion.

The auction comes at a time when a meltdown of the U.S. housing and subprime mortgage markets is hurting the ability of companies to raise money. Last month, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said he wasn't sure this was the right time to move forward with an auction but that the FCC's hands were tied because Congress requires the agency to proceed. Last week, Martin was singing a different tune: "It will probably exceed any other auction that we have had in the past," he said.

We still could see some impact of the economy on the auction, especially when it comes to rural telcos and small wireless ISPs. They don't have access to the capital larger bidders do. Moreover, it doesn't appear the D Block of 700 MHz band, the spectrum that is supposed to be set aside for a nationwide public-safety/commercial network, will get the minimum $1.3 billion bid set by the FCC. Only one bid was made on that Block, for $472 million. Perhaps the real test of the economy's impact will be whether non-traditional players--those whose core business isn't building wireless networks--were aggressive in the bidding.--Lynnette

Aruba makes push into industrial WiFi market

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Aruba Networks is making a big push into the industrial WiFi market, announcing a new family of hardened and explosion-resistant access points as well as two partnership agreements with ruggedized device makers Panasonic Toughbook and Psion Tecklogix. It also announced a customer win with petrochemical company Amerada Hess.

Aruba decided to design access points from the ground up because current access points trying to serve the industrial market don't cut it in terms of being explosion resistant. The industrial market has been a difficult one for WiFi companies to crack given the interference problems the heavy metal interior of industrial facilities pose. Michael Tennefoss, head of strategic marketing with Aruba, said the company uses higher power radios--200 milliwatt instead of 100 milliwatt--to get better throughput in these areas and processes the signals through adaptive radio management to recover any lost signals. The access points can also be powered using solar power, a car battery, street light or power over Ethernet.

To read more about Aruba's push into the industrial WiFi market:
- take a look at this release

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MetroFi wants $9M from Portland to finish WiFi

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:59:53 -0500

MetroFi, the WiFi vendor building out Portland's free muni WiFi network, reportedly won't finish the network until the city coughs up $9 million. However, Portland government officials say they aren't about to do such a thing as their contract with the vendor doesn't stipulate that they buy services from the company. MetroFi apparently ran out of money and stopped building the network this past fall.

For more about the impasse in Portland:
- read this piece from Wi-Fi Net News
- take a look at this article from the Portland Business Journal (sub. req.)

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Frontline closes doors; D-block auction in question

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:59:56 -0500

Frontline Wireless--the wireless startup that lobbied hard to make the private-public partnership licensing scheme a reality in the 700 MHz band for public safety--has shut down operations after failing to raise enough money to bid in the upcoming 700 MHz auction, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Frontline had planned on building a nationwide, high-speed wireless network for public safety officials, but even with the backing of L. John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, as well as other supporters, the company raised enough for the $128 million down payment, but not enough for the $1.3 billion reserve price on the spectrum.

Frontline's move could represent a serious setback for auction of the D-block band--which is reserved for an auction winner that plans to build a network for public safety and commercial customers--as it is believed Frontline is the only entity set to bid on the spectrum.

For more on Frontline shutting down:
- read this article from the WSJ (sub. req.)
- check out this report from Mobile Radio Technology Magazine

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JetBlue offers WiFi on 'BetaBlue' flight

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:59:56 -0500

JetBlue will begin offering passengers free email access on an aircraft that will fly from New York to San Francisco. Passengers on "BetaBlue" will be able to connect to Yahoo Mail and IM services using their laptops or WiFi-enabled BlackBerry devices via WiFi antennae in the ceiling and computer server that relays signals to the ground. JetBlue was one of the winning bidders of air-to-ground spectrum back 2006.

For more about JetBlue's BetaBlue flight:
- read this article from AFP

E-Path willing to foot the muni-WiFi buildout bill

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 06:59:54 -0500

A relative newcomer to the muni-WiFi market appears to be the only WiFi firm left willing to foot the bill to build networks for cities. Florida-based E-Path Communications was the only responder to an RFP issued by the city of Trenton, N.J. The company plans to build a network that will serve both the city exclusively and offer access to constituents. The company says it will build the network with its own money and sell services back to the city to recoup its investment. Does E-Path know something larger players such as Earthlink and MetroFi don't? Both of those firms have said to receive a viable return on investment, municipal governments need to step up and become meaningful anchor tenants before construction. Given the fact that E-Path was the only bidder on the network, we can guess that it doesn't have a "meaningful" anchor-tenant deal with the city. E-Path, in conjunction with partners, is also planning to build and operate a massive WiFi network in Suffolk and Nassau counties on New York's Long Island.

To read more:
- take a look at this article from The Times
- check out this posting from WiFi Net News

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Analysys: Many femtocell business cases flawed

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 06:59:53 -0500

A new study from Analysys says operators are considering widespread deployment of femtocells as early as next year, and a large-scale deployment of the indoor base stations carries significant risks. The report says that many of the business cases are not commercially viable, and the service could cannibalize existing revenue. Analysys says that a business case based on cheap voice service in the home would stimulate fixed-mobile substitution but could also lead to disaster since the revenue benefits are unproven. A business plan based on a variety of multimedia service propositions would create a better business case for femtocells as it has the potential to increase revenue, says Analysys.

To find out more:
- check out this report from Wireless Federation

Enterprise vendors put pre-802.11n stakes in the ground

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:59:58 -0500

The enterprise 802.11n market has officially taken off now that Aruba, the last major holdout, has entered the market. Things certainly changed in this market in a matter of months. Earlier this year, Aruba had said that 802.11n wasn't ready for the enterprise since the standard wasn't finished. Cisco also warned that the draft 802.11n product had no guarantee of working together. But Cisco jumped into the 802.11n space in September. Now many enterprises are pushing video services and looking for strategic replacement of of the wired Ethernet in certain areas of their businesses. 802.11n significantly improves data throughput and coverage of existing 802.11-based technologies, and vendors are convinced that the standard won't change much when it is finally ratified. They are also comfortable that the Wi-Fi Alliance is certifying these products.

Meru, the first vendor to announce Draft 2.0 802.11n plans earlier this year, said it plans to announce a number of customers shortly in verticals such as healthcare, retail, higher education and hospitality. Girish Baht, director of enterprise solutions with Meru, said Meru is in a situation where it can't often meet customer demand for 802.11n products. In fact, its recently introduced Video Unplugged Program, a video over WLAN partner program, which aims to certify video products and guarantee QoS, was introduced partly to take advantage of 802.11n's ability to handle larger amounts of data.

All of the draft 802.11n announced deals so far are in the higher education space. Meru has a deal with Carnegie Mellon, Cisco with Duke University and Meru with Morrisville State University. These are typically the entities that are less risk-adverse and want the latest cutting-edge technology.

How many pre-802.11n deals we'll see throughout 2008 remains to be seen. Stan Schatt, vice president and research director with ABI Research, doesn't expect massive adoption because most enterprises don't like the idea of using pre-standardized equipment. We'll likely see adoption in certain verticals that need lots of bandwidth or want to heavily take advantage of VoIP, he said.

After all, no vendor can make a 100-percent guarantee that the final standard will match what it is selling today. Even though most vendors expect a software upgrade, enterprises will have to foot the bill for a full hardware upgrade. As Schatt says, "Any time you lock up a bunch of engineers in a room, you just never know what is going to come out." -Lynnette