Public WLANs Take Root

Plans by the agency of several mobile computing vendors to extend pay-per-use and subscription-based WLANs in public spaces across the political division are spurring development of software and hardware for service providers, as well as of recent origin devices for users.

Hewlett-Packard Co this week in of recent origin York will launch a public wireless LAN initiative that includes novel equipment, implementation and hosting services, as well as management and billing software for customers looking to launch their have a title to WLAN services.

"You want to be able to make things that easy," said Michael Flanagan, worldwide WLAN solutions and programs manager at HP in Santa Clara, Calif. "You've got to be able to locate up the billing structures upon the back end and the subscription issues upon the front end."

Novice WLAN service providers agreed that having a ready-made solution sp their time to market.

"It made things easier, especially for a startup," said Anindya Ghosh planter and CEO of Kubi Wireless SL a "hot spot" service provider in Barcelona, Spain, that launched last month in several Spanish public-houses "We were able to entertainer our back-end stuff in the HP facilities."

HP estimates a take away from of about $10,000 for a public WLAN pilot, depending upon the complexity of the site. This is a far make an outcry from the $199 "hot blot in a box" solution that Toshiba America Information a whole s Inc. is announcing this week, along with its be in possession of hosting services.

Officials at HP said setting up a public WLAN takes more than a single piece of hardware on the contrary added that the company will be offering its hold hot spot in a chest within a few months.

IBM Global Services is also interested in the WLAN hot-spot business. It has joined with Nokia Corp. to launch a solution later this year that combines services and equipment.

According to a new report from In-Stat/MDR, it is estimated that the number of locations available for public access will be augmented worldwide from 2,000 last year to 42000 in 2006 with service incomes experiencing a corresponding growth, reaching $6426 million in 2006 up from $113 million last year.

Counting upon a jump in demand for client-side equipment, HP this week will also launch six notebooks in its Compaq Evo Compaq Presario and HP Pavilion lines that support 80211b The Evo and Presario notebooks include the Multiport, an integrated wireless module that resides in the top of the notebook. The company is also launching the PocketPC H3900 which features Intel Corp.'s fresh Xscale processor and includes 80211b support.

Initially, the succes of public WLANs be pendents on business travelers, who be pendent on network security.

To that extremity HP, of Palo Alto, Calif., is teaming with iPass Inc., a Redwood Shores, Calif., company that focuses upon integrating VPNs (virtual private networks) into fiery spots. iPass' technology includes a one- click solution, which allows credentials to be passed automatically to greatest in quantity major VPN clients, and an "auto-teardown" feature, which will disconnect if the VPN funnel is lost.

iPass also focuses upon the issue of roaming. Company officials last week in Miami met with members of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance to discuss the Generic Interface Specification, a proposal for an HTTP-based authentication protocol between clients and gateways that is compatible with existing Web browser authentication protocols.

For the subsequent time companies in the public WLAN space confidence to take it to the nearest level, offering services that support WLAN and wide-area, third-generation cellular networks.

There is a catch. "The carriers must be involved for a variety of reasons," HP's Flanagan said, on the contrary they have been wary of WLANs for competitive reasons. "The telco are still going, 'OK in what manner does this not cut into our revenue?'"

Still, HP reports that the company is shut to signing deals with sum of two units U.S. wireless carriers and will announce its intent for services that combine WAN and WLAN support before the extremity of the year.

Related stories:

WLANs to acquire More Secure

Toshiba Talks Up 'Hot Spots'

Internet Insight: scalding;-very warm Spots

802.11a and 80211g expand the WLAN Space

Sniffing without Rogue Wireless LANs

Copyright ?© 2002 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserv Originally appearing in The trap Economy.