Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Mobile

    Wireless LANs and 3G Mobile Get Ready to Dance

    By
    Tim Kridel
    -
    March 19, 2002
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Wireless service providers arent giving up on next-generation, high-speed data, but theyre starting to acknowledge that there are more ways than one to tap that market.

      Thats one message emerging from the 2002 CTIA show, held this week in Orlando. One example: VoiceStream CEO John Stanton admitted that wireless LANs — also known as 802.11 or WiFi — are both friend and foe.

      “WiFi is a threat because were vulnerable,” Stanton said during his March 18 keynote. Two key weaknesses: Mobile wireless doesnt have enough spectrum to offer wideband to a wide market, and it cant afford to price its high-speed service as low as wireless LANs.

      Thats why VoiceStream bought the assets of MobileStar, a wireless LAN provider that went bankrupt trying to put its network in as many public places as possible. “MobileStar fits in as an integral part of our network,” Stanton said.

      Heres how: VoiceStream will stick with its plan to deploy GPRS and EDGE, two next-gen mobile wireless technologies that promise data rates of up to 168 Kbps and 384 Kbps, respectively. Think of GPRS and EDGE as wide-area networks, serving users and devices moving at speeds ranging from walking to freeways.

      WiFi, meanwhile, provides a far fatter pipe: 11 Mbps today and up to 52 Mbps in a year or two. But a WiFi signal peters out after a few hundred feet, so at best its a complement to WANs such as GPRS and EDGE in areas such as airports, hotels and campuses. Chances are that users will need the most bandwidth when theyre sitting down with, say, a laptop, so for a wireless carrier, it makes sense to run that high-bandwidth traffic over wireless LANs so that the mobile network is free to handle voice calls and narrowband data.

      “Its coverage where they want it and speed where they need it,” Stanton said.

      For the past year, some pundits have warned that WiFi would siphon off revenue from next-gen mobile wireless — especially the high-margin business users willing to pay a premium for speed. But Stanton, along with NTT DoCoMo and equipment vendors such as Pascal Debon, president of Nortel Networks wireless business, see WiFi as complementary — or at least a threat great enough to warrant a détente.

      The question is how to work together. At CTIA, Stanton shared the stage with Sky Dayton, founder and CEO of Boingo Wireless, which acts as the national brand for hundreds of small, regional wireless LAN operators. (Some analogies include Cellular One and Daytons first company, EarthLink.) At least on the CTIA stage, Dayton seemed more interested in working with Stanton than the other way around, so VoiceStream apparently is confident that MobileStars assets will give it enough of a wireless LAN network that it doesnt need to partner with an aggregator such as Boingo or iPass.

      Buying a wireless LAN provider, even at bankruptcy prices, is a risky move, because it means that the mobile operator now has the overhead of operating another network. Another option is to act like Boingo and strike deals with individual wireless LAN operators, but any savings from cutting out the middleman might be outweighed by the additional costs of setting up and maintaining those deals.

      One thing is clear: Theres a decent business case for mobile wireless and wireless LANs working together. Said Dayton, “Sooner or later, its Your chocolate fell in my peanut butter.”

      Tim Kridel
      Before joining The Net Economy in August 2000, Tim Kridel was a staff writer at Wireless Review from May 1998 to October 1999. He wrote extensively about RF and SS7 engineering and wireless data, and his cover stories include interviews with Omnipoint president George Schmitt, SBC Wireless president Stan Sigman and FCC commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth. In October 1999, he was named technology editor, where he assigned and edited articles for five sections, including news. His last article was a cover-story interview with NTT DoCoMo president Keiji Tachikawa. He also moderated and spoke on panels at the PCIA and Wireless I.T. shows.From 1994 to 1997, Kridel was contributing editor of Popular Communications, where he covered AM/FM radio. He also worked as a business reporter for the Columbia Missourian and the Mid-Missouri Business Journal. He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Missouri and attended the University of Missouri School of Journalism, where he wrote his master's thesis on how the talk format saved AM radio. His hobbies include ham radio, which gave him an understanding of electronics and RF engineering that eventually led to a career writing about wireless technology. Tim covers the technology and business strategy behind wireless, including cellular, PCS, wireless data, wireless local loop, LMDS, MMDS and lasers.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×