[MLB-WIRELESS] The Big Boys' Mad Dash into Wi-Fi

[Barry Park]

Businessweek Online

DECEMBER 13, 2002

            NEWS ANALYSIS:TECHNOLOGY


                        The Big Boys' Mad Dash into Wi-Fi
                        The wireless Internet is all the rage. The question
now: Can tech giants turn it into a bona fide, billable business?
            It started just three years ago, when techies began programming
their laptops with a new wireless standard and jerry-rigging antennas to
their broadband Internet connections. Poof! Suddenly, they could move around
in their homes or offices, even into the backyard, and stay connected to the
Net.

            Now, this technology, known as wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi, is
taking off. Vast, informal networks are sprouting up. Zippy Wi-Fi
connections, each one with a range of some 300 feet, now blanket entire
neighborhoods from New York to Stockholm to Hong Kong. Some 2 million mobile
surfers in North America already use Wi-Fi, and Gartner Inc. expects the
number to double by next year. The surge in demand has prompted the Federal
Communications Commission to find ways to set aside more spectrum for Wi-Fi.

            Wi-Fi is all the rage, and finally, the struggling tech industry
is gearing up to cash in on it. In the next year, Dell Computer Inc. (DELL )
will begin equipping practically all of its laptops with Wi-Fi connections.
Sony Corp. (SNE ) is putting it into a host of electronic gadgets. Intel
Corp. (INTC ), which is investing $150 million in Wi-Fi startups, plans to
release new chips with Wi-Fi receivers by spring.

            And on Dec. 5, AT&T (T ), Intel, and IBM (IBM ) launched a new
company called Cometa Networks. Its goal is to bundle thousands of Wi-Fi
connections, called hot spots, into one nationwide network -- and to convert
this grass-roots phenomenon into a bona fide, billable business.

More at
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2002/tc20021213_7773.htm



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