Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Fiber-optic network, tablet PCs, Wi-Fi put to use for G8 summit Wireless networks span coastal Georgia as the summit begins

From: NEXTEL-1
Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 06:29:57 -0400

Fiber-optic network, tablet PCs, Wi-Fi put to use for G8 summit Wireless
networks span coastal Georgia as the summit begins

News Story by Bob Brewi

JUNE 08, 2004

(COMPUTERWORLD)

- As official delegations from eight major Western nations begin today’s
G8 Summit on Sea Island in Georgia, their work is being supported by a
number of technologies put in place just for the three-day event.  The
summit, convening in the U.S for the first time in seven years, includes
officials from the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia
and the U.K.

Networks range from a massive 2,000-mile fiber-optic network installed
by BellSouth Corp. in coastal Georgia to a free Wi-Fi network in
Savannah and beefed-up cellular service.

Included in the technology mix are 780 push-to-talk cellular phones
distributed to delegates and to federal, state and local staffers and
security personnel by the Southern LINC division of Atlanta-based
Southern Co., which also bolstered its network with the installation of
a new tower on Sea Island, said Lonnie Pate, Southern LINC's sales
manager for south Georgia.
The phones are based on iDEN push-to-talk technology, which is also used
by Nextel Communications Inc., Pate said.
About 100 of them also incorporate GPS-based technology to track
vehicles.

To support the phones, Cingular Wireless spent $2 million on 20 new cell
sites, including three on Sea Island, 16 in central Savannah and one in
Brunswick, according to Cliff Minor, vice president and general manager
of Cingular Wireless-Georgia.
When they’re not using the phones, aides to the various heads of state
will be able to take notes and conduct research
using tablet computers from Motion Computing Inc., Office OneNote
software from Microsoft Corp. and virtual office
collaboration software from Groove Networks Inc., according to Tricia
Traeger, a spokeswoman for Austin-based Motion
Computing. She said each G8 delegation will be able to use the tablets
over a secure peer-to-peer network, using Microsoft OneNote to highlight
notes that need more research.

Mike Helfrich, vice president of product strategy at Beverly,
Mass.-based Groove Networks, said his company's virtual-office software
is ideal for meetings such as the G8 summit, since it helps with
collaboration between geographically dispersed groups, such as the
delegation leaders and their staffs. The Groove software also
incorporates strong RC4-based encryption, which ensures integrity of
communications, Helfrich said.  The $4 million network installed by
Atlanta-based BellSouth provides support for delegation members as well
as myriad federal, state and local agencies in an 80-mile swath of
coastal Georgia from Savannah to Brunswick, according to BellSouth
spokesman Kevin Curtin.  Curtin said the fiber-optic network includes
self-healing fiber rings in Sea Island, St. Simons Island, Brunswick and
Savannah, at the G8 media center and for the agencies supporting the
event. BellSouth also installed its Metro Ethernet service in Savannah,
providing gigabit-speed connections between two or more Ethernet-based
LANs.  BellSouth has furnished all eight delegations with a wide range
of communications services, "some more complex than others," said
Curtin, who declined to provide details. The network also serves as the
primary means of communication for the 20,000-person-strong security
force deployed for the event.
BellSouth has equipped the G8 media center, located in the Savannah
International Trade & Convention Center, with two DS3 lines (45M
bit/sec. each) to provide Internet access. And Savannah Spanish Moss
Inc., a community-based free Wi-Fi network that started operation last
Wednesday, has installed a Wi-Fi node to cover the outdoor areas of the
convention center, according to Marc Marling, chairman of Spanish Moss
and a lawyer at Hunter MacLean Exley & Dunn PC in Savannah.

The free Wi-FI node at the G8 media center, which was installed by
Southern Linux in Savannah, was created using developmental models of
the company's Linux-driven access points, said Bob Ketterhagen, CEO of
Southern Linux. He views the summit as a way to demonstrate the
capabilities of the company's Linux access points.

The Spanish Moss network grew out of a leadership program sponsored by
the local chamber of commerce and offers service from three other access
points in downtown Savannah, including Reynolds Square and River Street,
a thoroughfare that includes major hotels. BellSouth donated a
3Mbit/sec. up and 384Kbit/sec. down DSL circuit for Internet connections
to Spanish Moss, Marling said.

The Spanish Moss network uses Model 1230 access points from Cisco
Systems Inc., which operate under the 802.11b
standard, as well as Cisco Model 350 wireless bridges in its downtown
Savannah nodes. The networking hardware for
the wireless network was paid for by Advanced Business
Software/Computerland Savannah, according to the company’s business
development manager, Adger Ross.

Ross said he sees the G8 summit as a way to showcase the city's nascent
free Wi-Fi network.

http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,93729,00.html

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