Subject: [NEXTEL-1] ‘Peoples’ wireless network proposed for the Netherlands

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 15:23:04 -0500

Telecom Experts Propose Countrywide Wi-Fi Network for the Netherlands
Two Dutch telecom experts are proposing to the Netherlands' major political
parties creation of a nationwide "people's" broadband wireless network. The plan
would call for neighborhoods to get DSL connections to the Internet, followed by
Wi-Fi hotspots set up in public spaces such as businesses and convention
centers. However, regulators would have to approve the use of the 2.6 GHz
frequency for short-range devices. The frequency is currently designated for use
by 3G mobile networks.

‘Peoples’ wireless network proposed for the Netherlands
15/01/2003
Editor: Joe Figueiredo

While Wi-Fi-based wireless local area networks (WLANs) are sprouting up in the Netherlands
in increasing
numbers, these networks are, however, top-down and still largely ‘fragmented’.

Two telecom experts, Jaap van Till and Hendrik Rood, from the consultancy Stratix, have
now presented to an
audience in which representatives from major Dutch political parties were present a
proposal for a test-bed to
experiment with a ‘peoples’ country-wide wireless broadband network.

Such a network (bottom-up in organisation and mesh in topology) is expected to offer users
a choice of
technology.

In the first phase of establishing this network, neighbourhoods would be connected through
high-speed DSL
lines. This would be followed by the setting up of hot-spots (WLAN access points) in
company premises,
convention centres and other public places.

The third phase, perhaps the most interesting and innovative, would see the deployment of
such mobile
electronic devices as PDAs and laptop computers as network routers (comparable in some
ways to how the
wired internet is connected), thus expanding connectivity of the network.

This experiment will only be possible, however, if the Dutch authorities consent to the
use of the 2.6 GHz
frequency (not scheduled for deployment in 3G mobile networks until 2008) for short-range
devices.

Such a network concept is not totally new. An American company, MeshNetworks, for example,
has developed
and implemented a wireless, distributed, high-speed mesh-network that supports voice,
video and data.

Furthermore, consumer electronics companies have started to equip their products with
wireless (internet)
communications, and Microsoft can already use FM radio frequencies to send short messages
to such devices
as refrigerator door-magnets and watches.

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Joe Figueiredo is a regular contributor to international ICT trade journals and corporate
executive magazines. He also produces the odd lifestyle
and satirical article. Joe holds a BA in Mathematics from St Anselm’s College, N.H, and an
MSc in Computer and Information Science from the
University of Massachusetts. For further information on Joe's writing activities, visit
fits.scarlet.nl
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