Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Analysts Predict Take-Up Problems With Dual-Band Wi-Fi Phones

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 13:02:40 -0400

Analysts Predict Take-Up Problems With Dual-Band Wi-Fi Phones

Contributed by mmasnick on Tues, Jul 29 2003 at 1 : 40 am Analysts are suddenly
souring on the hot topic of the month: WiFi-enabled mobile phones. They seem to
think there are too many issues and too few standards to suggest it's going
anywhere. This seems like a fairly shallow analysis - leaving out the idea, if
done well, WiFi phones will lead people to use them in ways people never expected.
While I agree that there are some questions about how quickly voice over WiFi will
catch on, it's quite a different story to simply toss out the concept altogether,
when it's likely that the early product issues will be worked out fairly quickly.

http://www.techdirt.com/news/wireless/

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Tuesday 29 July 2003 Analysts predict take-up problems with dual-band Wi-Fi
cellphones

Companies will be able to take advantage of handsets that can access both voice
over IP on wireless Lans and mobile phone networks by early next year, network
provider Avaya told Computer Weekly last week.

However, analysts have questioned whether the technology will take off until
standards are finalised and battery issues are resolved.

Chandra Kintala, vice-president for research realisation and network software at
Avaya Labs, said, "Handsets and back-end infrastructure for dual-band Wi-Fi and
cellphones will be available by early 2004."

The new devices - jointly developed with handset maker Motorola and wireless
networking provider Proxim - will potentially allow users to switch from using
mobile phone networks outside the office to a wireless Lan inside company
buildings or at commercial public hotspots.

The development of dual-band technology will allow businesses to cut costs by
allowing calls usually made via mobiles from a building to be routed through the
IP network, simplifying the management of employees' calls.

Only one handset will have to be supported, whether employees are in or out of the
office.

Gartner analyst Ian Keene identified problems with standards, power and cost as
standing in the way of the technology.

"The current generation of wireless chipsets are power-hungry and it will take
another couple of iterations to solve these problems," he said.

"There is no voice over IP wireless Lan standard as yet. Also, although some firms
will go for the technology, I am not sure they realise the potential cost of being
locked into a non-standard product with one supplier."

Analyst Jeremy Green of Ovum said, "Enterprises with secure wireless networks are
the obvious candidates to take advantage of this, especially those with lots of
mobile workers.

"If employees tend to use mobile phones a lot, the calls will not have to be paid
for when they are in the office."

http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=123692&liFlavourID=1&sp=1

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