Summer 2006

"Ubiquitous Wi-Fi" is on the way - or so says Sirocom, which claims to be the UK's fastest-growing VNO (virtual network operator).

With ubiquitous Wi-Fi you or your staff will be able to gain wireless access to the Internet from a laptop, PDA or other mobile device more or less anywhere - at least, within specified areas such as urban environments, anyway - and you won't need a mobile phone card to do it.

This, anyway, is how companies such as Sirocom and free-hotspot.com see mobile Web access unfolding in the years to come. Sirocom's claim that the technology is becoming ubiquitous is based on the fact that it has just increased its network of public Wi-Fi "hotspots" by 8,000 hotspots across Europe through a distribution agreements involving iPass and T-Mobile International.

However, this development comes at just the same time as faster 3G mobile phones are coming on stream. These use HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology to provide mobile data links at least four times as fast as current 3G systems. Vodafone claims to be the UK leader here (see News, page 6), and maintains that early users of its new service prefer it to Wi-Fi.

 

As if these options weren't enough, WiMax is emerging as another contender for mobile Web access. This technology is similar in some ways to Wi-Fi, but can provide wireless local area networks that extend for miles rather than hundreds of yards.

Until this year, WiMax was considered more appropriate for fixed applications than mobile. Fixed WiMax replaces a standard office-based broadband Internet connection at premises that are too remote for standard broadband to be viable.

However, at the turn of this year an international standard for mobile as well as fixed WiMax was agreed - IEEE 802.16e - and some analysts say this could now unlock the potential of the technology for widespread mobile use. According to Juniper Research, interest in mobile applications could take some of the pace out of fixed-access developments. It predicts that the number of mobile WiMax users worldwide will reach 1.7 million by next year, and then will rise inexorably to 21.3 million by 2012.

Intel and Motorola are already working together to speed take-up of the technology. Intel is understood to be considering fitting WiMax chipsets in laptop computers as standard next year or the year after, as it does now with Wi-Fi chips. Motorola is reported to be planning to launch a WiMax phone early next year, and could also be planning a hybrid WiMax/GSM phone that allows seamless roaming between the two types of connection.

Interestingly, though, Juniper Research thinks that in the world of hybrids, the WiMax-Wi-Fi combination will hold more appeal for suppliers than WiMax-3G.

Pakistan is one of the first places in the world to be planning a city-wide WiMax infrastructure. The attraction is that such a network should not need nearly so many base stations as Wi-Fi, since in theory they can be much further apart.

However, this technology is still evolving, whereas Wi-Fi hotspots are already here in growing numbers, and 3G broadband is now emerging into the market too. So the question for operators may well be that of deciding when they need the technology, and what options will be available when they do.

Ultimately, price and convenience are likely to settle the rivalry, along with the critical mass of the providers. For road transport operators, who are likely to require unlimited mobile access for both data and voice transmissions, mobile phone-based systems seem likely remain the favourite for the time being. But if WiMax or Wi-Fi networks established themselves more firmly, they could have equal appeal - especially for operators working within predictable geographical areas such cities or campus sites.