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To: D.J.Smyth who wrote (154181)	2/22/2000 1:36:00 PM
From: John Hauser	Respond to of 176387

Wireless web....how about 1 that works..... JH Metricom prepares for TC rollout Mark Reilly Staff Reporter A California-based wireless Internet provider, prepping for a rollout in the Twin Cities, is working to build a network here by perching scores of small radio transmitters atop area utility poles. Metricom, headquartered in Los Gatos, plans to introduce its wireless Web service in Minneapolis, St. Paul and as many as 90 surrounding communities, according to company officials. The move is part of a widespread expansion by the company into a dozen metropolitan markets from its current bases of San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C. and a handful of airports and university campuses. The company, which was founded in 1985, builds its network much like a cellular phone provider would -- only its service is limited to computers. It markets its service primarily to businesses and consumers who use laptop computers frequently and require constant Internet connections. Users plug a special wireless modem into their PCs, which maintains a constant link with Metricom's radio transmitters. "We're targeting mobile professionals, people who want to work at Starbucks or in taxi cabs and still be functional," said Ken Goldin, regional director at Metricom. The speed of the service, called Ricochet, is estimated at greater than 100,000 bits per second -- significantly faster than traditional phone modems, though slower than high-speed networks using cable modems or digital phone lines. Those faster services, however, require the user to remain in one place. Minneapolis officials said the city's Public Works department was in talks with Metricom to place the radio antennas atop city-owned light and utility poles. The city actually owns relatively few poles outside of the downtown area, so Metricom is also talking with NSP to lease space on its transmission and light poles. Jody Londo, a service manager at NSP, said those talks were still ongoing. Goldin said it had already signed deals to build networks in about 20 surrounding suburbs. Metricom was one of the first companies to experiment with wireless Internet access, building networks on college campuses in the mid-1990s. But the market is now being targeted by several wireless phone companies, who have upgraded their existing networks to carry data. Last fall, Sprint PCS introduced its Wireless Web service. US West and AT&T have announced similar wireless data plans. Elliot Hamilton, a telecom analyst at the Strategis Group, a market research firm in Washington, D.C., said Metricom's expansion was likely intended to counter such efforts. He noted, though, that the phone companies' networks transmit data much more slowly than Metricom -- making laptop use in particular a problem. "They're going after a very different market segment; Metricom's going after the laptop market almost exclusively," he said. "But once [the phone companies] upgrade their networks to boost speed, they'll be going almost head-to-head."