Wi-Fi News Briefs

Opportunity Knocking

If they don’t act quickly, mobile operators may miss a chance to get a critical
head start in the burgeoning public Wireless LAN market, says high-tech market
research firm In-Stat/MDR of Scottsdale, Ariz.

In-Stat argues that offering WLAN services today will enable mobile operators
to experiment with broadband services, to combine them with their so-called 2.5G
mobile offeringsgeneral packet radio service (GPRS) and code-division
multiple access (CDMA) 1x real-time
technology (RTT)and then migrate users
to third generation (3G) mobile WCDMA systems when that technology becomes
available.

If they delay in implementing WLAN technology, non-mobile competitors will
get a head start. They’ll grab all the best hotspot sites and be in a good
position to compete head-on with the mobile carriers’ future services.

“Public WLAN services will help educate users on WWAN [wireless wide area
network] data usage, thus increasing their usage and adding to overall data ARPU
[average revenue per unit] incrementally while helping to alleviate the decline
in voice ARPU,” says In-Stat/MDR analyst Donald Longueuil.

Mobile operators will be able to contain the potential revenue erosion from
competitive WLAN providers by offering public WLAN services themselves.

“Entering this new market will not only provide them with a logical service
line extension, but it will also allow them to defend their valuable future
next-generation revenues,” Longueuil says.

In addition, they will be able to address a demand that they currently do not
meet, increasing their overall data cash flows. According to Longueuil, “Every
mobile operator could achieve increased wireless data revenue if they implement
a WLAN solution properly.”

“But to do this, they must start now, either by growing organically or by
purchasing a WLAN service provider. Delaying entry into the market will likely
prove detrimental in the long run.”

Will mobile carriers listen? Most already have WLAN hotspots on their radar.
At least one, global system mobile (GSM) operator VoiceStream
Wireless
, is already offering a combined 2.5G/Wi-Fi service through its T-Mobile unit
using the Wi-Fi hotspot network T-Mobile earlier purchased from defunct
MobileStar.

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Singapore Heats Up Hotzone
Wars

A Singapore Internet company, StarHub, recently unveiled what may be one
of the world’s biggest “hotzones,” or areas of contiguous Wi-Fi hotspot coverage.

The StarHub hotzone, at the Asian city’s Suntec Singapore International
Convention & Exhibition Center (Suntec City), covers an area of 180,000
square meters, equivalent to 28 soccer fields. It uses Wi-Fi gear from Cisco.

The hotzone takes in all meeting rooms, exhibition halls, concourses and
galleries on six floors of the giant facility, plus restaurants and other areas
in adjacent terraces and gardens.

“We are very excited about the vast opportunities that the StarHub Wireless
Broadband Hub will bring to companies and individuals at Suntec,” said Kyong Yu,
StarHub’s senior vice president of IP and Multimedia. “It will change the way
people work, allowing them to hub effectively and productively while on the
move.”

The Suntec City wireless hotzone will also “lay the foundation for us to
develop value-added wireless applications and optimized multimedia content that
will free users from the office environment to a more flexible working
lifestyle,” Yu said.

StarHub is offering an innovative data-based pricing plan. Subscription rates
are about $6 for 2MB of downloading and $30 for 20MB, with additional usage
charged at about two tenths of a cent per kilobyte. The company charges a
one-time $6 sign-up fee and is offering existing customers the hotzone service
at half price.

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Yet Another Wireless
Frequency

Conterra LLC, a regional WISP in Columbia,
S.C., has announced an agreement to co-own and use 39 GHz licensed spectrum
currently owned by First Avenue Networks to develop wireless
broadband services in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville and Spartanburg in South
Carolina, as well as Augusta, Ga., and Charlotte, N.C.

First Avenue, of Charlottesville, Va., is the former Advanced Radio Telecom,
which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year. The
company says its licensed technology can deliver broadband speeds up to 622
Mbps.

“Our agreement with Conterra is very positive news for the telecommunications
sector and an important endorsement of the efficiency of 39 GHz for wireless
solutions to meet connectivity challenges,” says First Avenue president and CEO
Dean M. Johnson.

“First Avenue Networks believes that fixed wireless connectivity using 39 GHz
spectrum is the most cost effective solution for a large percentage of ‘last
mile’ and other types of telecommunication links.”

The company holds over 750 licenses, issued by the Federal Communications
Commision
, for 39 GHz spectrum covering virtually the entire United States.
In the top 50 metropolitan markets, it owns over 350 MHz of bandwidth.

“Joint ownership of this licensed spectrum marks a significant company
milestone as we create a viable wireless broadband service model,” says Mark
Horinko, chairman and co-founder of Conterra.

“Adding 39 GHz licenses to our current wireless broadband service offerings
gives our customers higher bandwidths, easy service migration and scalability
from our present service offerings.”


Reprinted from ISP-Planet.

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