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Hotspot Hits for January 23, 2004

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Jan 23, 2004

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The 3000 hotspots announced by Truckstop.net and Sprint last November are on the way to deployment. IP network service manager LogiSense says that 500 of the locations will be running by the end of March, using the LogiSense EngageIP Hotspot Suite software, naturally. The software handles authentication, roaming, billing, and adding on new services as needed — maybe even VoIP phone support in the future. The company cites a stat that 25% of all truckers in the U.S. use a laptop, a number that is growing. — January 23, 2004

If you were worried about getting Internet access on the Autobahn, you can rest easy. Airnyx AG has signed an agreement with Agip, to put hotspots into 400 Agip gas stations in Germany by the end of April. Airnyx is using software from Garderos to control the access and billing. — January 22, 2004

The Hotel Group, which manages properties under the Hilton, Best Western, Hyatt, Sheraton, Comfort Inn, and Radisson brands, has tapped Leap Networks of Nashville, Tenn., to provide wireless coverage for 1600 rooms and 110,00 square feet of meeting space at hotels and centers in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. — January 22, 2004

The Saint Paul Pioneer Press reports that the city’s Winter Carnival (a tradition held almost yearly since 1885 and usually featuring the coronation of a new King Boreas and the building of an ice palace) offers 802.11b signals for anyone “nutty enough to lug along a laptop,” though the signal is meant mainly for the staff at the grounds where the carnival takes place. The signal comes from a transceiver mounted on the Xcel Energy Center across the street. The hardware and Internet connection are supplied by Syntegra USA of Arden Hills, Minn. Syntegra has previously unwired outdoor (and indoor) conferences in the area and elsewhere, such as last year’s e-gov Homeland Security Conference in Washington, D.C.

The article mentions another outdoor hotspot in St. Paul’s Mears Park recently died when the company providing the service, FireVue, moved out of the building where it had put the park’s access points. — January 22, 2004

Ithaca, New York — home of Cornell University, Ithaca College, and the managing editor of this site — has long seemed to be a hold out for public access wireless with just one Internet café downtown and a Borders Book store with T-Mobile service… but no longer. Local provider LightLink is offering hotspot service now in five locations (including the kid’s museum called the Sciencenter) and many more to come. In fact, the ISP is offering Lightlink Hotspot service for free to any “restraurants, coffee shops, and eateries around town” — and believe me, we’ve got a bunch of them. Access to the Web and e-mail for users will be free after they sign on as a guest. The businesses that sign up exclusively with Lightlink Hotspot in turn get DSL or wireless broadband, all the APs needed for coverage, and a small business Internet account. — January 21, 2004

The Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport in Savannah, Georgia, has launched a $6.95 a day Wi-Fi service. The service is provided by ICOA’s Airport Network Solutions division, which also provides hotspots throughout the Sacramento, Calif. Airport and the Baton Rouge, Louisiana Airport, as well as at the Panera Bread chain of stores. — January 21, 2004

InnerWireless , which provides antenna systems that allow companies to extend all sorts of wireless signals indoors, from cellular to Wi-Fi, says it will be providing equipment to take the 1,450-foot high Sears Tower in Chicago into the first commercial skyscraper in the United States to supply Wi-Fi on all floors (110 of them with over 3.7 million square feet of space). MetLife, who owns the building but was nice enough not to change its name and cause mass confusion, struck the agreement with InnerWireless so they can offer Wi-Fi service to all tenants, so they won’t have to set up internal networks. — January 21, 2004

Stone Street Gardens in Dallas, Texas — described by our source as the “heart of the Main Street District in downtown” — can now enjoy the wonders of wireless access. The city’s Downtown Partnership is making its network available to anyone with a Wi-Fi-equipped laptop or PDA. This is just Phase I, though; the DP is planning more hotspots at Pegasus Plaza and hopes to cover the entire Main Street District by the fall. The service provider behind the wireless is WorldWisp. — January 20, 2004

No one does Wi-Fi on the train like PointShot Wireless, and they’re taking their act across the pond to London. Working with Broadreach Networks, they’ll soon be offering services to the U.K. railways. No specifics have been announced on which lines will get service and when, but based on the projections by BWCS ($420 million per year will be spent on in-transit Wi-Fi by 2008), expect quite a few. — January 20, 2004

Marconi Interactive Systems is the latest payphone maker to go into wireless. The company will be working with Airpath Wireless to build wireless into phones and kiosks. Marconi will refer Airpath to customers who want to get into the hotspot business, letting Airpath handle the backend for them. — January 20, 2004

Travelers to Japan using GRIC Communications’ aggregator service can now sign on through hotspots run by Japan Telecom. Likewise, 1.7 million Japan Telecom customers can now access the entire GRIC TierOne Network at no extra cost using GRIC’s mobile office client software. GRIC now has service in 39 countries, including 6,100 hotspots. — January 20, 2004

Hotspot Hits for January 23, 2004

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