Feb-March 2003

Could wireless "hotspots" offer a faster and more affordable way of accessing data networks on the move than the forthcoming third-generation mobile phone systems? BT claims its growing Openzone network offers access at half the price of 3G, and does it three times faster, while rival Megabeam's access is faster still.

The idea is that instead of logging on to the Web or a data network over GPRS or a third-generation phone system, your handheld or laptop detects a "WiFi" wireless local-area network in the locality where you've stopped, and logs on through that - faster and (in theory) more reliably than over a phone network.

The Openzone network now has approaching 120 live hotspot locations, including 36 Hilton hotels, several Costa coffee shops in London, and Gatwick airport's north terminal.

The Megabeam service is available at Moat House hotels, Heathrow airport's Holiday Inn hotel and now London City Airport. While Megabeam's UK network is so far more modest than BT's, it has the attraction of being available in half a dozen other European countries as well as the UK.

 

Hotspots allow users within about 100 metres of the location to log on to the Internet from a portable computer or PDA equipped with a suitable wireless networking card compatible with the WiFi (IEEE 802.11b) 24 MHz radio spectrum standard.

BT is offering access speeds of up to 500 kbps - almost ten times faster than a standard 56K modem - while Megabeam boasts access speeds of up to 11 megabytes per second - a hundred times the speed of a dial-up modem. Both systems operate on the WiFi 802.11b 24 MHz radio spectrum.

Prices for the Openzone service start at £20 a month for 300 minutes, with the alternative of a £6 one-off fee. Megabeam's premium service has a more of a premium price - around £4.20 for two hours, £18 for a day, £40 for a week or £70 a month.

The drawback of these systems is their selective access. Initially they are targeting business users needing ad hoc Internet access whilst on the move through key locations, and it is not clear how soon they might become viable for regular communication by people in transport or field service operations. But if they become sufficiently widely deployed, it could happen eventually.

According to Ann-Louise Palm, chief executive of Appear Networks (a European leader in software platforms for local wireless networks), this year the UK will see acceleration in the implementation of solutions designed for public hotspots, with the growing influence of the "workspot" model.

BT would no doubt agree. It says it is on schedule to provide 400 hotspots by summer this year and 4,000 by June 2005.