Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Airport to Offer Wireless Network Access This Fall

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 04:11:14 -0400

Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Airport to Offer Wireless Network Access This Fall

Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Publication date: 2003-08-13
Arrival time: 2003-08-12

Aug. 13--Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is planning to go
wireless in a big way this fall. A new airport-wide "hot spot" will give travelers
access to a wide variety of Internet service providers, allow the airport to run
pieces of its own operations wirelessly, and permit individual airlines and
airport merchants to connect to the network.

The wireless local area network will be phased in and should be ready by the end
of September, according to Julie Howlett, director of information systems for the
Broward County Aviation Department. Howlett said the airport is transitioning its
operations from the county computer network onto its own wired network, which was
built last year.
At that time, the infrastructure was put in place to connect a wireless network.
She added that, for smaller airlines, being able to connect to the airport's
network -- both wireless and hard-wired -- will be a boon.

She said the cost of adding the wireless infrastructure and management software is
only a small portion of the $1.6 million price tag for the entire computer
network, which she said was funded out of airport-generated enterprise funds.

The airport will use a wireless management software platform from Roving Planets,
based in Boulder, Colo., which will integrate and coordinate the wired and
wireless networks and allow airlines and merchants to manage their own users and
tie in with their own networks, while allowing the airport's information
technology department to control security and bandwidth.

The wireless network will offer multiple Internet service providers for travelers,
unlike many public hot spots at airports and hotels, which offer access to only
one service provider, requiring users of other services to set up a new account.
"A public user will just open a laptop with a wi-fi [wireless fidelity] card
installed, the card will 'see' the system, and the user then opens his browser and
goes to the airport's portal page, which will give directions on how to link to
various Internet services," said Kaj Gronhold, senior vice president of corporate
development at Roving Planets.
Until the agreements with these multiple service providers are in place later this
fall, travelers will have free access to the Internet and Web sites, but will be
unable to reach specific ISP accounts, said Howlett.

She said the new system "will have the highest level of security you can have with
wireless."
In addition, airlines will be able to take advantage of a number of new wireless
applications that will allow them to track baggage, check in passengers with
handheld devices, and give maintenance workers on the apron access to data from
airplanes as they land. Merchants such as Starbucks can still maintain their own
networks for customers.
Roving Planet also manages the wireless network at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=40840782&ID=cnniw&scategory=Telecommunications%3AWireless&

To see more of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel -- including its homes, jobs, cars
and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.sun-sentinel.com.

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