Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Prague Business Journal: Large Carriers to offer Wi-Fi

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 16:39:23 -0500

Prague Business Journal

13th Jan 2003

Telecom biggies prepare to launch commercial Wi-Fi Internet access

by Igor Muller

What was only pirate territory just a few months ago is now the target of
some of the biggest players on the domestic telecoms market as wireless
fidelity (Wi-Fi), the alternative Internet connection and data transfer
tool, takes its first, tentative steps towards a full-blown commercial
future.
Telecommunication giants Czech Telecom and Eurotel have jumped on the
bandwagon by launching projects offering Internet access via Wi–Fi
technology. Mobile phone operator T-Mobile has also announced its interest
in entering the market.
Groups "pirating" wavelengths to offer Wi-Fi services have until recently
been the pioneers of free, albeit somewhat unreliable, connections (see 'A
Rooftop Rebellion,' PBJ, Sept. 9, 2002).
Telecom launched a Wi-Fi pilot project in mid-December, allowing users to
log on to about 20 Wi-Fi "hotspots" throughout the country wherever their
retail stores (Telepoints) are located. Telecom is testing the process and
currently offers it for free, spokesman Vladan Crha told PBJ. It will
increase the number of hotspots—the locations at which the connection
works—to 50 by the second half of this year.
At the moment, Telecom is keeping under wraps its plans to roll out Wi-Fi
commercially and what its charges will be. Crha refused all comment. "We
are just at the beginning," he said. "The system is being tested." He said
more details about how the pilot project is progressing might be available
sometime in March.
Mobile operator Eurotel is already further down the road. It already
offers Wi-Fi services (called WiFiJet) as a commercial activity. At the
start of the year, it offered 16 hotspots in the Czech Republic. Locations
include the Marriott and Ambassador hotels in Prague and Carrefour
shopping centers in Brno and Ostrava.
Eurotel's system works through its prepaid GO coupons that allow users to
browse the Internet for 12 hours for Kc 300. In the future Wi-Fi should
work with any Eurotel package. "We are integrating Wi-Fi services with GSM
tariffs for customers who have a contract with Eurotel," spokesman Jan
Kucmas said.
Eurotel will invest more in broadening the area covered by Wi-Fi when it
has gauged customer interest, Kucmas explained. Eurotel will eventually
offer Wi-Fi along with its other Internet access options (GPRS, HSCDS).
Wi-Fi uses radio technologies to give a computer the ability to share a
single high-speed broadband cable. The technology operates in the
unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands. The system of offers Internet
connection when moving or traveling.
Hardware adaptation costs are low. Most modern notebook computers or PDAs
(palm-size PC/telephones) come with integrated cards and built-in
antennas. Otherwise, add-in cards for desktops and notebooks can be
purchased.
In Prague, Globe Internet started offering Wi-Fi based Internet services
before Telecom and Eurotel launched their pilot services. Free connection
to the service is possible near the company's Petrin headquarters. It
offers equipment for a small rental change.
Globe Internet sells Wi-Fi only as a supplement service to its other forms
of broadband connections. It wants to sell the service to restaurants or
cafes that offer such Internet use as an extra to customers.
Wi-Fi, however, has its limits. It only works at a distance of 200-500
meters from a hotspot, and the signal is very sensitive. A network of
Wi-Fi transmitters to cover a large area (e.g. a town or district) is
unlikely to work because of the many malfunctions it would probably
encounter. The signal is no good when transmitted from one hotspot to
another.

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