MM - from the qcom thread
Lucent to offer new wireless technology
By Wylie Wong
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
February 28, 2000, 1:05 p.m. PT
Lucent Technologies is betting that people will soon want a wireless Internet
connection everywhere: at home, at work and even at the airport.
The communications equipment maker today said it will ship in late March a family of
high-speed wireless networking kits. The technology supports both Microsoft
Windows-based PCs and Apple Computer models.
"They're covering all aspects of the wireless market: the home, businesses and public
spaces," said Cahners In-Stat Group analyst Mike Wolf. "You can take your laptop home,
at work. You can take it anywhere, and if they have the same Lucent equipment, you can
access the Internet."
Lucent--which made a splash last year by including wireless
technology in Apple's iBook notebook computer--and Proxim
Technologies, are two of the early leaders in the crowded, but
emerging, wireless market.
Sales are expected to grow from $771 million in 1999 to $2.2
billion in 2004, according to market researcher Cahners
In-Stat.
Other competitors include Nortel Networks and Cabletron
Systems, and new players such as 3Com and Cisco
Systems, which recently bought Aironet Wireless
Communications to enter the market. Dell Computer today
also announced plans to sell its own wireless technology in
its notebook computers.
Lucent, which last fall released wireless networking kits for
large businesses, today announced new technology that will
allow consumers and small businesses to wireless connect
their PCs, printers and other peripherals while sharing a single
Internet connection.
Dubbed "Orinoco," the new wireless PC cards have radio
transmitters and receivers built-in, and a piece of hardware that connects the PCs to an
Internet connection--whether it's a high-speed digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable-based
connection. The hardware technology, called a "residential gateway," also has a built-in
56-kilobit per second (kbps) modem that plugs into a phone line.
Lucent executives said the new PC cards include
easy-to-use software for people to install the wireless
network.
The company also released new wireless technology,
called Orinoco AS-1000 Access Server, which will give
people secure wireless Internet access in public places,
such as airports and convention centers, and businesses
and schools, such as a library.
The goal is to allow laptop users with the same wireless PC
card to be able to connect to the Net, check email and
access the corporate network anywhere, said Angela
Champness, a Lucent product manager for wireless
products.
But with the stiff competition, compatibility between all the different wireless technologies
is still an issue. Lucent, 3Com, Cabletron, Cisco, Nokia and others are supporting a
standard called 802.11B, which sends data at 11 megabits per second (mbps).
But while companies like 3Com and Lucent are supporting 802.11B for both the home and
business markets, other companies like Proxim, Intel and Compaq are supporting different
wireless standards in the home and corporate market. Intel, for example, is supporting
802.11B in the corporate market, but a different wireless standard called HomeRF for the
home--and the two are not compatible.
Depending on the wireless kits consumers buy, analysts say people may end up with
wireless technologies that are not compatible. Champness said a consortium of
companies that support the 802.11B standard are conducting tests to ensure they're
products are compatible.
"Our vision is to guarantee interoperabilty," she said. "That means 3Com, (Cisco's) Aironet
and a Lucent PC card will work together." |
