Broadband Wireless Internet Access (BWIA) / WiMAX Stories

Finns Get City-wide Mesh Network

From ZDNet.co.uk News - news.zdnet.co.uk

Andrew Donoghue
ZDNet UK
Published: 22 Feb 2007 17:24 GMT

One of Finland's largest cities is building out a metropolitan mesh network to provide high-speed voice, video and data access to its citizens.

The city of Oulu announced on Thursday that it is using mesh-networking technology from wireless networking manufacturer Strix Systems to double its existing outdoor Wi-Fi coverage with an extra 60 outdoor mesh nodes in the city centre.

Overall, Oulu is committed to adding around 210 extra access points to the network — known as panOULU — by the end of 2007.

"This is a good example of an innovative public and private partnership that can be established to enable large-scale wireless access networks and bring entire cities online," said Jim Mooreland, vice president of worldwide sales for Strix, on Thursday at NetEvents in Geneva.

Mesh networks are made up of individual mesh nodes, which have the ability to automatically form connections with other nodes within range, and reroute traffic if a node drops offline. This makes the networks self-organising.

Full story at:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,39286034,00.htm

(Lead for this story from Frederick Wamsley via email.)

Govt Delicenses 50 MHz Of Spectrum In 5.8 GHz Band For WiMAX Use

From Indiatimes, The Economic Times, News By Industry, Telecom - http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Joji Thomas Philip
Times News Network, Monday February 19, 2007 02:16:44 AM

NEW DELHI: In a move that will help roll-out of WiMax services, the government has delicenced 50 MHz of spectrum in the 5.8 GHz band for commercial use. The move assumes importance as the global WiMax forum has identified three frequency bands —- 5.8 Ghz, 2.5 Ghz and 3.5 GHz — to deploy systems using this technological platform.

Of these three frequencies, the world over, only the 5.8 Ghz is a licence-exempt band, and therefore the Department of Telecom’s move to delicense this frequency puts India in line with global standards. DoT has already initiated moves to get spectrum vacated for Wimax services in both the 2.5 GHz and 3.5 Ghz frequencies, currently in use respectively for Insat series of satellite communications and satellite television broadcast.

When asked on the commercial implications of the move, Rajesh Chharia, president of Internet Service Providers Association of India told ET: “A lot of ISPs are likely to offer services in this frequency as it is now free. However, if a large number of ISPs switch, then this frequency can get choked, as only a total of 50 Mhz (from 5.825 to 5.875 Ghz) has been delicensed. This can result in poor quality of services.”

Full story at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Telecom/Govt_delicenses_50_MHz_of_spectrum_in_58_GHz_band_for_WiMAX_use/articleshow/1635433.cms

(Lead for this story from Dave Hughes / Dewayne Hendricks posting to the Dewayne-net mailing list.)

L.A. Mayor Wants Citywide Wireless Access

From Los Angeles Times / latimes.com - www.latimes.com

 

Antonio Villaraigosa proposes a Wi-Fi plan that would provide free or low-cost Internet services over 498 square miles in 2009.

By James S. Granelli and Tony Barboza, Times Staff Writers

February 14, 2007

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa outlined plans Tuesday to blanket Los Angeles with wireless Internet access in 2009, in what would be one of the nation's largest urban Wi-Fi networks.

The L.A. Wi-Fi initiative would give Los Angeles residents, schools, businesses and visitors  uninterrupted high-speed Internet connections — for work, research, Web browsing or even phone calls.

More than 300 municipalities nationwide already have launched plans for similar networks based on the Wi-Fi technology that has become popular at coffee shops, bookstores, public parks and countless other so-called hot spots.


Full story at:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wifi14feb14,1,6392577.story?page=1&ctrack=1&cset=true&coll=la-headlines-business

(Lead for this story from Dewayne Hendricks posting to the Dewayne-net mailing list.)

Vast Wi-Fi Network Will Blanket Houston

From Dallas Morning News / DallasNews.com - www.dallasnews.com

08:07 PM CST on Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Associated Press

HOUSTON – City officials said Tuesday they had struck a deal with EarthLink Inc. to build a citywide wireless Internet network that would eventually be the nation's largest at about 600 square miles.

Houston would join more than 250 communities across the nation that plan to or already offer wireless Internet to residents, businesses and government workers. Once completed, Houston's municipal Wi-Fi network would be the largest in North America, EarthLink officials said.

"You can certainly say things are bigger in Texas," said Craig Setters, an industry analyst and author of the book "Fighting The Good Fight For Municipal Wireless."

At an afternoon news conference, Mayor Bill White used the word "enormous," citing the estimated $50 million that EarthLink would invest in setting up the infrastructure and the 10,000 transmitters that will be placed on light and utility poles throughout the city. No taxpayer dollars would be spent the project, White said.

Full story at:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/021407bizhoustonwifi.128d0ce.html#

(Lead for this story from Dewayne Hendricks posting to the Dewayne-net mailing list.)

The MeshMAX Combo

From Wi-Fi Planet - www.wifiplanet.com

By Eric Griffith
February 6, 2007

Proxim Wireless this week released a new product to take on the other mesh providers by incorporating not just Wi-Fi for client access and mesh connections to extend the network, but also WiMax for backhaul. The three-radio unit is called MeshMAX.

"We've seen in a majority of deployments that municipalities and providers have a need for backhaul connectivity," says Geoffrey Smith, head of marketing and product management for Proxim. "It either isn't where they need it, or at too low a data rate." Their solution is to build in the WiMax support for both licensed (3.3 to 3.6 GHz) and unlicensed (5.1 to 5.8 GHz) radio frequencies, whatever the provider may want.

Full story at:
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/news/article.php/3658276

(Lead for this story from Glenn Fleishman writing in WiMAX Networking News, via RSS.)

WiFi Turns Internet Into Hideout For Criminals

Authorities Struggling With Anonymity Provided By Unsecured Networks
From: washingtonpost.com

By Jamie Stockwell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 11, 2007; C01

Detectives arrived last summer at a high-rise apartment building in Arlington County, warrant in hand, to nab a suspected pedophile who had traded child pornography online. It was to be a routine, mostly effortless arrest.

But when they pounded on the door, detectives found an elderly woman who, they quickly concluded, had nothing to do with the crime. The real problem was her computer's wireless router, a device sending a signal through her 10-story building and allowing savvy neighbors a free path to the Internet from the privacy of their homes.

Perhaps one of those neighbors, authorities said, was stealthily uploading photographs of nude children. Doing so essentially rendered him or her untraceable.

Full story at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/10/AR2007021001457.html?nav=rss_email/components

Microsoft, Google Want FCC To Test Wireless Device

By Molly Peterson
Bloomberg News

Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and four other technology companies plan to submit a prototype of a new handheld device to U.S. regulators for testing, as they press the government to free up airwaves for wireless Internet access.

Microsoft is developing the prototype, which the coalition will submit to the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology, according to a Feb. 5 letter the companies filed with the FCC.

The device would "provide consumer broadband access and networking," the filing said.

The commission is considering whether to let companies offer wireless Internet access on handheld devices that would use vacant television airwaves, known as white spaces.

Full story at:
seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/303204_msftgoogle10.html

(Lead for this story from Peter Radizeski posting to the WISPA mailing list.)

Kansas City Star - Wireless Proposal Advances

Johnson County will ask providers to submit bids on creating a countywide network.

By FINN BULLERS

The Kansas City Star

In the future, computer users in Johnson County could be able to access the Internet from anywhere in the county — no cords attached.

On Thursday, county commissioners and the county’s three largest cities took the next step toward creating a wireless communications network to cover the 460-acre county.

Commissioners agreed that in March county staff would put out a request for proposals, asking wireless network providers to bid on building the county’s network, said Hannes Zacharias, deputy county manager.

The response will tell the county whether the private sector wants the business and thinks there is money to be made by constructing a wireless network throughout Johnson County.

Full story at:
www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/16658107.htm

(Lead to this story from Dawn DiPietro posting to the WISPA mailing list.)

Forbes.com - Wireless Shootout: Suits Vs. Cowboys

Adviser Soapbox
Nick Tredennick with Brion Shimamoto, Editors
Gilder Technology Report
02.06.07, 4:40 PM ET

It's the Suits versus the Cowboys in the battle for your wireless future. The Suits are the cellular carriers; the Cowboys are entrepreneurs implementing the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' 802.xx protocols. The Suits bring zillions of dollars in wireless infrastructure, a long operating history, a huge base of captive customers, thousands of roaming agreements and vertical integration of systems, software and services. The Cowboys bring ... uh, they bring ... uh ... well, they'll improvise. My money is on the Cowboys. The battle replays minicomputers and PCs. The minicomputers were the Suits. The PCs were the Cowboys. PCs won handily. Here's the story for wireless.

My office and my house are in the middle of nowhere. I'm at the end of 1.7 miles of pavement, on a ridge that sticks out between a couple of taller ridges. There are good views from my property, but there's no clear view to geosynchronous satellites, to heavily populated areas, or to ridges with repeaters. There's no cable TV and no phone company central office within five miles. Around here, fiber is a word on cereal boxes.

...

Full story at:

http://www.forbes.com/2007/02/06/gilder-verizon-cowboys-pf-soapbox-in_nt_0206soapbox_inl.html

(Lead to this story from Dewayne Hendricks posting to the Dewayne-net mailing list.)

Telephony Magazine / Online - NTCA: McDowell tells rural providers, ‘Go wireless’

By Tim McElligott

Feb 6, 2007 12:28 PM

ORLANDO--In his first formal presentation to an industry association, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell gave the following advice to members of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association at the group’s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.: Take advantage of the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction to arm yourself for the future.

Warning the rural industry that it is “on a collision course with disaster” primarily due to a broken Universal Service Fund structure, McDowell said that while he and others are working to fix the USF and address other important issues such as inter-carrier compensation, competition that will pave the path to the future.

“I believe in free markets and that government should only step in where the free market fails. And in rural America, it did,” McDowell said, adding that it was right that the government stepped in and established systems such as USF.

“But we are at a crossroads. Today the system is broken,” McDowell said. "The system is [designed] to take a lot from the few, but the few are getting fewer,” he said, referring to mergers and acquisitions as well as the exemptions enjoyed by some VoIP providers.

...

Full story at:
http://telephonyonline.com/home/news/ntca_mcdowell_usf_020607/

(Lead to this story from Dewayne Hendricks posting to the Dewayne-net mailing list.)