Continued Growth in FMC & Dual Mode Solutions

Recent study from www.infonetics.com outlines the expected growth of Dual Mode Cell/WiFi solutions and in Fixed Mobile Convergence.  

“Wireless high-speed broadband access, unified messaging, video, and dual-network cellular/WiFi services are making the mobile triple play a consumer market reality,” says Keith Nissen, In-Stat analyst. “The key to successfully capturing the market for these next-generation personalized services is control of the end-point device.”

A seperate report by In-Stat also found the following:

* Worldwide, consumer VoIP subscribers using wireless IP phones will grow from 2% currently to 73% in 2009.

* Based on competition from mobile carriers without wireline operations, Europe will be the largest initial market for dual-mode smartphones.

* While mass production of dual-mode sets is not scheduled until 2007, an In-Stat market survey found that over 80% of businesses have an interest in the technology. 

The report, “Wireless IP Phones Drive Future VoIP Markets” (#IN0501955CT), covers the evolution of business and consumer IP end points, and analyzes the impact on the future telecom industry. The report outlines the continued migration of PBX markets to enterprise IP telephony, along with the deployment of dedicated and standards-based IP telephones and soft clients, and the growth of wireless LAN and dual-network WiFi/cellular handsets. 2004 unit shipments are presented by category, along with 2005-2009 IP phone forecasts.

For more information on this report, please visit: 

http://www.instat.com/catalog/bcatalogue.asp?id=18

802.11n gear 10 times faster

With the latest version of Wi-Fi promising vastly higher data rates compared with previous incarnations, a couple of laptops running a few FTP sessions through a single access point won't do.

Instead, Network World set up the largest public 802.11n test ever conducted. They invited all enterprise Wi-Fi vendors to supply not one but eight 802.11n access points, along with controllers if needed. Working with test instrument vendor VeriWave, they crafted test traffic from hundreds (and in some cases thousands) of virtual clients to see just how high the new 802.11n systems would scale, both in pure 802.11n settings and also with a mix of 802.11n and legacy clients. In all these tests, the goal was to determine 802.11n performance in an enterprise context.

Read Complete story

Sony Ericsson T700 - 3.2 megapixel camera, ActiveSync, and FM Radio

I am not much of a fan of the Ericsson phone's out today however the new T700 has some powerful features. This bar-style phone has quad-band GSM/EDGE radios and supports European 3G networks. It has a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and video recording capabilities. On the music side, it has stereo speakers, stereo Bluetooth, and an FM radio. It supports Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync for corporate email, as well as POP3 accounts. It will be available in select markets later this year in three different colors.

more at Sony Ericsson »

Apple Issues iPhone 2.0.1 Firmware Update

Apple Inc. this week rolled out a firmware upgrade for its iPhone family to fix apparent bugs within the smartphone's software.

Version 2.0.1 is available by connecting the device to its host computer, launching iTunes, and clicking the "Update" button. The iPhone 3G update can also be manually downloaded here, and the iPhone's update can be downloaded here. The 250 MB download reportedly increases backup times, improves keyboard responsiveness, and reduces lag in some applications.

When Apple released the 2.0 version for the iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPod Touch earlier this month, it enabled new features like access to the Apple App Store, increased security, and enterprise capabilities.

Read the whole story at InformationWeek.

HughesNet 5 Mbps downstream over satellite:

HughesNet now delivers 5 Mbps downstream over satellite:

The network was previously limited to 3 Mbps down for a whopping $190 or $210 per month, depending on whether you paid upfront for the receiver or not. The new service, ElitePremium (running out of superlatives, eh, HughesNet?), doesn’t yet show up in their list of plans, and the press release declines to mention the price, which is likely to be $250 per month based on their other tiers. While that’s steep, when the alternative is nothing, paying $60 for 1 Mbps to perhaps $250 Mbps for 5 Mbps downstream could be a lifeline for businesses in the boonies.

Sierra Wireless buys Junxion:

Sierra Wireless buys Junxion: Sierra is one of the leading makers of mobile broadband adapters, like ExpressCards and USB modems; Junxion is the leading business-focused mobile broadband bridge maker. Junxion has plenty of competitors on the low end, where products are being sold to small business or individuals, but I’m not aware of another firm whose products have the feature list for centralized IT management and deployment. They bundle the cost of this central management into the products, which can accept any kind of PC Card. Well, perhaps not any kind in the future, though Sierra Wireless is likely to have little interest in making Junxion’s box less compatible with rivals. But they’ll certainly be a lot of good synergy in developing new hardware for the same market that’s cheaper or has a different set of features. How about four adapters in one box that can bond connections together for specialized markets, like railroad Wi-Fi?

Taking Ownership on WiFi Network?

Read the entire article from Brad Antoniewicz

If you are running WPA Enterprise with PEAP, or EAP/TTLS its about time you take a serious look at your client configuration! This weekend at Shmoocon in Washington D.C, Josh Wright and I gave a presentation that demonstrated how a very common, but incorrect client supplicant configuration can lead to the compromise of certain wireless networks and in some cases, provide Windows domain access.

Verizon Chooses LTE for Its 4G Roadmap

11/29/2007

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Verizon today announced plans to develop and deploy its fourth generation mobile broadband network using LTE – Long Term Evolution – the technology developed within the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards organization. The selection of LTE provides Verizon and Vodafone – joint owners of U.S.-based Verizon Wireless – with a unique opportunity to adopt a common access platform with true global scale and compatibility with existing technologies of both companies.

Verizon and Vodafone have a coordinated trial plan for LTE that begins in 2008. Trial suppliers include Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia-Siemens, and Nortel. These suppliers, along with others in the world community, have contributed significantly towards development of the standards in 3GPP. Discussions with device suppliers have expanded beyond traditional suppliers such as LG, Samsung, Motorola, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson, as consumer electronics companies anticipate embedded wireless functionality in their future products.


Read Comments the presse release from Verizon's web site

Verizon Wireless To Introduce ‘Any Apps, Any Device’ Option For Customers In 2008

Looks like VZW has changed it mind with regards to opening up devices.

11/27/2007

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Verizon Wireless today announced that it will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company. Verizon Wireless plans to have this new choice available to customers throughout the country by the end of 2008.
In early 2008, the company will publish the technical standards the development community will need to design products to interface with the Verizon Wireless network. Any device that meets the minimum technical standard will be activated on the network. Devices will be tested and approved in a $20 million state-of-the-art testing lab which received an additional investment this year to gear up for the anticipated new demand. Any application the customer chooses will be allowed on these devices.

Read the Verizon Wireless Press Release

Benefits of Voice over Wi-Fi White Paper

The white paper is available for free registered download on http://www.wi-fi.org/.

The Wi-Fi Alliance today released a new white paper, "Delivering the Best Experience with Voice over Wi-Fi Programs," which details the unique requirements of the voice application on Wi-Fi devices and previews its Voice-Personal certification program, planned for launch in the first half of 2008.

Test from 8820 Blackberry

Testing out posting from my Blackberry. Not sure everything will be spelled correctly so please forgive if it sounds really stupid.

Sitting in a Panera Beard using their Free WiFi in Mufreesboro on my way back home from Chattanooga.  The twins have a basketball game this afternoon and I am wasting time til their game. Instead of driving all the way back to Nashville thought it would be better to get some work done here at the Panera Beard.
Alexander S. Curtis
Mobility Applications Consultant
AT&T

iDEN one foot in the Grave?

Sprint announced that it will launch CDMA handsets with Nextel Direct Connect early next year. This is not a hybrid CDMA / iDEN technology, but rather a compatible Push To Talk technology using the CDMA network which Sprint successfully tested late last month. Sprint said these handsets will come in a variety of styles, from ruggedized to sleek, and a variety of manufacturers. Sprint will continue branding their walkie talkie service Nextel Direct Connect as these new CDMA handsets will be able to work with iDEN handsets as well as each other. Sprint will also add new features to Direct Connect with these phones, including a single number for voice and PTT as well as PTT voicemail.

Still Not Sure About Voice Over WiFi

My biggest concern are the security issues which may be over hyped but do have merit remain the biggest obstacle's of true wide spread use and deployment of voice over wireless LAN solutions. Many of the respondents in the Kubernan/Webtorials 2007 Wireless LAN State-of-the-Market Study, sponsored by Nortel have basically said the same thing. The perceived “insecurity” about wireless security has been a consistent primary research finding each of the four years that the study has been conducted. Nearly 52% of 300 respondents, who are subscribers to the Webtorials networking education Web site and who play a role in their companies’ WLAN implementation, cited security as one of the two biggest challenges of building large-scale Wi-Fi deployments. From a data connectivity perspective you can live with eb and flow network connectivity, but with Voice you must have a consistent solid connection with no hick ups. QOS issues and hard to nail down across WiFi networks. RF is a crazy thing and does some weird things at times.

Another big challenge is the reliability and stability of Wi-Fi’s unlicensed spectrum which according to the respondent in the study garnered half as much attention @ (24%). The issue seems to remain primarily one of education and training: Most users believe the technology and capabilities exist to keep their networks secure, but implementing wireless security is so complex and multidimensional, they don’t feel confident that they won’t leave a protective stone or two unturned.

That being said, enterprises are doing some things right: Nearly 38% have deployed Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2), which embodies the most current and most robust IEEE standard for Wi-Fi security, 802.11i. Thirty-six percent continue to use VPN technology over their Wi-Fi connections for protection and the same percentage has also implemented wireless virtual LANs (VLAN) to segregate user groups and applications. About 13% have deployed wireless intrusion detection/prevention (WIDP) overlay systems from a third party, while another 20% have deployed the WIDP capabilities embedded directly in their Wi-Fi system by their primary vendor.

Other items and issues worth mentioning from the report:
* Enterprise plans for adopting VoIP over Wi-Fi are all over the map.* Enterprises are planning to wait for final standards ratification before deploying 802.11n networks.* The degree of enterprise Wi-Fi backbone coverage seems out of sync with the percentage of employees that seem to have access.

http://www.webtorials.com/

Muni WiFi to the Rescue - Minneapolis Bridge disaster

Over the last few days I have read several reports and bogs from others online who have pointed out the Muni WiFi network was available during the time when none of the wireless carriers networks were usable. Like other large events cell phone networks get jammed with all circuits are busy and maxed out capacity.

Minneapolis' wireless network provided by USI Wireless opened the city’s WiFi network for free for 24 hours to anyone who could use it. Network traffic jumped from 1,000 users to 6,000. People with WiFi-enabled phones could make voice calls, and anyone with a WiFi enabled laptop PC or other device could send instant messages, video, photos or e-mail. USI Wireless had to add extra access points to accommodate the increased demand.
However a Muni WiFi network can be swamp and jammed just like a cell network can. However the Muni WiFi network in the case was very important in the rescue efforts following the bridge collapse.

SF Muni Wireless: Almost Dead?

Read Comments from Richard Martin who works for Information Week

Richard from Info Week points out the how San Fran's local leaders for years have made dumb decisions to build costly money sucking projects over the years. There have been a lot of supporters and non-supporters of larger Muni WiFi projects like the one in San Fran. I personally think Muni WiFi can be possible only if the local utility companies gas, water, power all come together and collective and mutually work with the local public safety agencies. Using these local utilities and public safety groups as the anchor tenants gives the city a chance of having a viable business model.

It now appears that EarthLink wants to back out of the San Fran Muni project unless something major changes. Like many other larger Muni Wirless projects the ROI and profit margin for the San Fran network are just hard to justify, thus the stance thatEarthLink is force to take. EarthLink is a profit making enterprise looking to stay in business. The margins are so tight and the upfront cost of deployment and the ongoing costs just make it a very difficult business model to make a profit.

At one time I thought the only one who could make Muni Wifi work was Google with the ability to sink billions of dollars in the "Build it they will come type of network". Having a anchor tenants along with some local location based and national advertising could help subsidize the cost and may help get close to a profitable position. It has become obvious that the WiFi for free model will not work for any provider looking to make any profit.

In some of my earlier posts two years ago when I worked for the Mesh Networking Group at Motorola I make several comments on how from a Public Safety prospective it some make sense to have a secure private wireless broadband infrastructure for first responder. Some smaller cities have deployed networks that accommodate the Public Safety Agencies with the ability to provide a separate segmented part of the network for the general public to use. We can't have this discussion with bringing up WiMAX. WiMAX has had a lot of hypoe but iis getting close to being a real options in the Muni Wireless space. But the cost of building out a WiMAX network is very large, so we shall see. The upcoming 700 MHz auctions may change the whole landscape as well.

Testing from Blackberry

This is my first blog message from my 8800 Blackberry.
Sent via BlackBerry using the New at&t wireless network

Great White Shark Enterprises and Dubai Investors

GPS Industries, Inc has signed a definitive investment agreement with Great White Shark Enterprises and Leisurecorp who is part of the Istithmar group. Istithmar is an alternative investment house based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it is 100 percent owned by Dubai World, which is in turn wholly owned by the Government of Dubai. Greg Normon is invloved in alot of stuff these days. Check out his web site. http://www.shark.com

Atlanta Issues City Wide WiFi RFP

Yesterday at the Muniwireless Conference in Silicon Valley CA, Abe Kani, Chief Information Officer for the City of Atlanta, announced the City of Atlanta is actively seeking a public/private partnership to deploy an affordable wireless network throughout the City’s 132 square miles at no cost to the City.

Wireless Atlanta will provide low-cost high-speed Internet access to residents, businesses, and visitors anytime and anywhere within the city. The City will also be able to use the network for mobile connectivity, strengthening public safety and streamlining government operations.

Mayor Shirley Franklin cast a new vision for the City at the start of her second term. The Wireless Atlanta initiative will help achieve the Mayor’s Vision for the City by improving the quality of life, promoting tourism and economic development, and leapfrogging city service levels.

“The Wireless Atlanta initiative will add tremendous value to our citizens, businesses and visitors with no use of taxpayer dollars…” said Abe Kani, Chief Information Officer. “The network will strengthen the quality of life for citizens and strengthen public safety through innovative applications.”

The request for proposal (RFP) sets forth the specifications of the broadband network, addressing issues including the network’s business model and services, coverage area, open access policies, network infrastructure, customer services, security and privacy, as well as contributions the network provider will make regarding the other important elements of the Wireless Atlanta strategy.

The RFP requires that no tax dollars be used to fund the capital or operating expenses of the network. Companies that respond are also encouraged to commit to launching and supporting community technology programs to close the digital divide.

Today’s RFP issuance begins a 60-day process to determine how the City will achieve affordable wireless broadband access throughout the City of Atlanta. Interested parties can visit and monitor the Wireless Atlanta webpage and download the RFP and other documents at http://apps.atlantaga.gov/wirelessatlanta/.

MuniWiFi Update from Andrew M. Seybold

Commentary June 12, 2006
Andrew M. Seybold
Muni-Wi-Fi Update

On June 29 I will be driving down to Anaheim, Calif.for the ribbon cutting of the EarthLink Muni-Wi-Fisystem that will be turned on officially for thatcity. There will be speeches, press events, a bigblast and a lot of brouhaha for this event. After all,it is the first city EarthLink is turning on and oneof the biggest cities to test the muni-Wi-Fi waters.

I am interested in seeing how this system works on dayone. I'm sure it will work well, at least where we areto gather, but the real story will come six monthsfrom now when I return to Anaheim and try to connectto the system from a variety of locations. I suspect Iwill find a very different network from the one we areshown on opening day.

Why? Because by then the network will have settled in,more access points will have been added by EarthLinkand/or private parties who want to use Wi-Fi for itsintended purpose, which is the last 300 feet. It willbe interesting to see how the system fairs over time. Many cities are moving ahead with great expectationsfor Wi-Fi for the masses. New Orleans is the latestwin for EarthLink and San Francisco is moving forward,as are Philadelphia and hundreds of other cities andtowns across the nation. Most interesting to me isthat many are coming on line or planning to come online in the next six months.

You would think theywould want to look at cities that already have systemsup and running for information, but it appears eachcity only hears what it wants to hear.Before I go too far, I should say that I met withfolks from EarthLink who seem to understand that thereis a lot of risk involved. They also know, as doesGoogle, that they need to attract more eyeballs inorder to grow and muni-Wi-Fi seems to be a great wayto do that. EarthLink may have an advantage because italready has a customer service center and expertise inproviding Internet services.But I still believe the cards are stacked against themand anyone who tries to make a viable business out ofWi-Fi on a wide-area basis. Have you heard what isgoing on in Burbank, Calif.?

Interference is the ruleof the day. Consider the recent events in Sacramento,Calif. where the city council wanted the winningbidder (MobilePro) to amend their contract and fund afree Wi-Fi service that was to be paid for byadvertising without the city serving as an anchortenant. MobilePro's response was to pull out of theproject leaving Sacramento having to go back out tobid. According to press sources, the city kept askingMobilePro to match deals that were being made in othercities such as Philadelphia, San Francisco andPortland, none of which are operational and none ofwhich have a proven business model. I think MobileProis probably the smartest muni-Wi-Fi systems providerbecause it said no to the city.

MobilePro had agreed to provide free service tolow-income residents at 56 Kbps (dial-up speeds). Thecity was asking for speeds up to 300 Kbps and wouldnot sign up for an anchor tenant position. The systemis estimated to cost about $8 million and that is onlythe beginning. That was for a system that worked onday one, not a system that worked six months into thefuture or a year later. The quote from MobilePro istelling: "We can't spend millions on a citywidedeployment, plus annual operating costs of millionsmore, and not any types of returns except onadvertising." (Google, are you reading this?) When Mobile Pro asked the city to be an anchor tenant,its response was that it thought others were "comingout of the gate with an ad-supported free service, andthat's the way we want to go."

No city, to myknowledge, has implemented that type of modelsuccessfully. It has been discussed, but thedifference between talking about it and making it workare very different.In Sacramento, the winner is not the winner. Accordingto sources, the city will rebid the project withtighter requirements and try again, and I say goodluck to them. If I was going to spend $8 millionputting in a muni-Wi-Fi system, I would at least wantto know that the city would pay every month for usingit. I would factor its payment into the cost of thesystem and the cost of the money and determine whetherI could make a profit. If I could, I would probablymove forward, but today there are no models from whichto choose.

There are no companies making moneyproviding muni-Wi-Fi services, only companies thatthink and hope they will. EarthLink is a good company that has made money foryears and seems to know a lot about the ISP business.Like other companies, including AOL, it is beingpushed to find new sources of revenue as Internetconnections become cheaper, data speeds for DSL andcable continue to increase and the price per monthcontinues to erode. It already knows how to run acustomer support center and understands that customerservice is key to success.

However, it is talkingabout providing service in an unlicensed portion ofspectrum, giving away the wireless modem and perhapseven a device to help customers extend coverage deepinto their houses and businesses and trying to find aviable business model for this service. Anaheim will be a key test for EarthLink. Can it keepthe network's performance where it needs to be? Can itentice customers with slower-speed access to upgradeto faster access? Can it afford to keep the network atthe same operational level as day one?These are unanswered questions, to be sure. IsEarthLink willing, like Google seems to be, to losemoney on access to make it up on eyeballs? If it is,the economic situation changes.

If eyeballs are all itwants, or customers for its ISP service, perhaps itcan make a go of this. But if muni-Wi-Fi is supposedto be a standalone business that makes money, my betis that it will never fly.I think the folks at MobilePro are smarter than theaverage muni-Wi-Fi provider. At least they know thebottom line and know if they spend $8 million on asystem for Sacramento, they will have to be able torecover that money and make money on top of it. As Isee it, this is a difficult to impossible task basedon the price of backhaul and Internet connectivity.

The feeding frenzy for muni-Wi-Fi continues. More andmore cities are signing up and more and more companiesare pushing their products for muni-Wi-Fi access. Butat the end of the day, it is possible that the onlypeople who will make money on muni-Wi-Fi will be thosewho sell the equipment. Do these folks know how to build a spreadsheet model?Let's see, I give the customer about $50 worth of freeequipment, I give them 300 Kbps for free and I expectthe city or advertisers to make up the cost andprovide a profit. After I build the system, I have toprovide customer support and guide customersinstalling software onto computers with unknownstatus.


As a customer, I have to assume my wirelessmodem can see the access point on a light pole, toomany of my neighbors won't sign up so I will getdecent speeds (Quality of Service?) and the guy nextdoor won't go down to his local computer store and buya Wi-Fi access point for his DSL or cable connectionand interfere with the signal I am receiving (justbarely) from the light pole three houses down thestreet.I'm sorry, but I have visions of a small business thatreally needs email access not having it and my son ordaughter having a school project due tomorrow and notbeing able to access the Internet because there isinterference or my neighbor is downloading videos. Iwonder how I would react, even if the service is free.

I think I would expect it to be consistent, and if Iagreed to pay for it and did not have it 24/7 at adecent speed, I would be really upset.And I haven't even mentioned that each access point'sfinite amount of bandwidth available is shared. If myneighbors don't hog it, how do I know my city won't?In New Orleans where EarthLink is also the winner, Iunderstand I will be competing with the city's videocamera feeds, public safety, city services andcustomers who are paying good money for higher-speedservices. What do I have to do to ensure that when Ineed access to the Internet it is there and it is at areasonable speed?

Because we have very few of these systems up andrunning, we don't have answers to most of thesequestions. Time will tell. That is why I'm going toAnaheim on June 29 and why I will go back six monthslater. Stand by!

Andrew Seybold

Copyright 2006
Outlook 4Mobility

Wireless Carrier Broadband Bottle Neck

Some time ago I worked for Verizon Wireless and back then before the roll out of EVDO I worked as a Data Solution Manager selling mobile data services. Back then I noticed that eventually there would be a capacity problem at cell sites that had high traffic or areas where more mobile data users are trying to use the wireless data network for internet access. It wasn't really a problem when a 40k to 120K connection is all that is avaiable. Now consumers are expecting WiFi type of wireless access with 300K to 1 megabyte of connectivity. A recent online article All-you-can-eat 3G may not last explored the capacity concerns that wireless carrier like Verizon Wireless. On average I believe most cell sites have a single T-1 line, those creating a bottle neck. This would only be a problem at base station with high traffic. If a carrier was to provide what they are advertising true broadband connectivity, a T-1 back haul would not be enough bandwidth. This is where WiMAX would fit nicely. As mentioned in the article above, Sprint seems to be the only wireless carrier of is making efforts to accommodate and giving what mobile professional and wireless consumers are asking for.