Nextel lines up new wireless service
By Ben Charny
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
March 21, 2002, 4:40 PM PT
update Nextel Communications wants to
add 802.11b wireless Internet
service to its repertoire.
Vice President of Enterprise Solutions
Ernie Cormier said the company
has inked a deal with RadioFrame
Networks, which makes equipment that
is supposed to enhance cell phone
coverage inside buildings.
The equipment will also let Nextel offer wireless Internet service
using 802.11b, a standard way for devices to communicate while
showering an indoor area with super-fast Internet access, Cormier
said. Cormier said such an offering wouldn't be for a while and would
be aimed at large companies with multi-building campuses.
Nextel could be the second wireless carrier to sell wireless Internet
access using 802.11b, which is a standard way for wireless network
equipment to interact. Voicestream bought wireless Internet service
provider MobileStar last year. Sprint invested in wireless provider
Boingo. Analysts believe competitive pressure will force other
carriers to sell this kind of wireless Internet service in the near
future.
"The plan is to have the carriers in control of 802.11b," said Alan
Nogee, an analyst with Cahners In-Stat Group. "They recognize that
there are many places like convention centers where people are going
to want even faster speeds."
802.11b transmits data via radio waves that are free to use and are
shared by transmissions from cordless phones and Bluetooth products.
Despite its shortcomings--which include porous security against
hackers and a signal that travels only 100 yards at a time--it has
found a home in airport executive lounges, hotel lobbies and a
growing number of homes and businesses.
Cormier said the company is taking steps to tighten the security of
any 802.11b networks it might offer. Information travels unprotected
through the air on 802.11b networks, and a hacker with a reasonable
amount of knowledge can intercept it. Hackers say it would be tough,
but not impossible, to use this open door to ride the network all the
way into a company's main computer.
"We recognize the problems and understand the issues," Cormier said.
Earlier this week, Nokia said it plans to sell a modem for laptops
that can access both 802.11b and cell phone networks like AT&T
Wireless or Verizon Wireless, which use a standard known as General
Packet Radio Service, or GPRS. |
