Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Verizon Peppers New York with Wireless Hot Spots

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 00:56:49 -0400

Verizon Peppers New York with Wireless Hot Spots

By Jay Wrolstad
Wireless NewsFactor
May 14, 2003

http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/21513.html

The Wi-Fi wave continues to swell, with Verizon Communications launching broadband
wireless service in New York City by activating 150 access points at strategic sites throughout the
city and hoping to build momentum for the company's role as an ISP.

Any Verizon Online customer (DSL or dial-up) with a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop or PDA can
connect for free within range of the carrier's hot spots, which eventually will number 1,000 as the
service is rolled out throughout the Big Apple.

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At a Pay Phone Near You In an innovative move, Verizon has placed the access points at its
pay-phone kiosks, eliminating the need to negotiate with a landlord to set up hot spots
and share the subsequent revenue. The move also may keep pay phones from going the way of
the dinosaur.

New York is meant to be a testing ground as Verizon mulls rolling out Wi-Fi service in
other major metropolitan areas and eventually nationwide, company spokesperson Jim Smith
told NewsFactor. "We'll see what the usage patterns are and do some fine-tuning as we
expand to other areas," he said.

Access points are deployed at the city's most heavily trafficked locations, including the
upper east and upper west sides, Columbia University, midtown, Union Square, Gramercy
Park, Greenwich Village/New York University, Wall Street and

Battery Park. Serving Broadband Base

A map is available at the company Web site, and Wi-Fi-enabled public phones are marked
with a red and black symbol. Verizon claims it has accomplished the largest Wi-Fi
deployment by an ISP in any U.S. city.

"Broadband is the future; it is a significant leap forward in technology with new products
and services being rolled [out] every day," said Smith. Verizon currently boasts some 1.8
million DSL broadband customers nationwide.

On a global scale, wireline service providers have been as active, if not more active,
than wireless carriers in delivering Wi-Fi, said IDC analyst Keith Waryas, especially in
Asia.

Force To Be Reckoned With?

Waryas told NewsFactor that Wi-Fi could be a lucrative opportunity for Verizon, noting
that the company has the infrastructure in place to support the service. "If they go
nationwide with this, perhaps in partnership with the Cometa, they will be a force to be
reckoned with," he said.

Cometa, a nationwide Wi-Fi network being developed by a consortium including AT&T, Intel
and IBM, has yet to take off but has the backing to succeed on a huge scale.

Verizon initially tested the Wi-Fi waters last fall by deploying WLAN systems for
businesses in the Boston area with the goal of
getting a foot in the door as momentum builds behind the technology.

In the United States, wireless carrier T-Mobile remains ahead of the curve in Wi-Fi
offerings, having established thousands of
hotspots at such public sites as coffee shops, hotels and airports.

http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/21513.html

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