|
Wireless Fidelity, a wireless networking
technology based on the ieee 802.11b standard. Such terse
descriptions do little to illustrate the explosion in interest in Wi-Fi
as a way of accessing company networks and the wider internet.
Wi-Fi lets users of portable devices such as laptop and pdas
connect to network resources without the need for cables, by means of a
simple and cheap card that plugs into a slot on the device. Once a
connection has been established to a base station on the main network, users
can send and receive data at very high speeds over distances of several
hundred feet, unencumbered by inconveniences such as walls or ceilings. This
has made wi-fi popular with home users and businesses alike. The
former can sit in the garden surfing the web and checking e-mail, and
the latter can work anywhere within an office building without the need to
be physically connected to a server.
Wi-Fi is cheap
and easy for consumers and businesses to setup, and as such represents a
short-term threat to subscription-based high-speed data services such as
gprs and 3g. Armed with a suitably equipped laptop or pda,
anyone can walk into a coffee shop or office with a wi-fi node and
connect to the internet, often for free, without the need to buy expensive
new hadrware or pay monthly subscriptions to telecoms companies. It also
allows closely located people to share internet connections; for example,
one household in a street might subscribe to a fast dsl connection
from a local isp and share it with its wi-fi-equipped neighbours. One
well-known chain of coffee shops has installed wi-fi nodes in
thousands of its outlets in the United States, and is extending trials in
Europe. Many other organisations are busily setting up wireless hotspots at
railway stations and airports throughout Europe, hoping to generate
substantial revenues from itinerant business users tired of relying on slow,
expensive modem connections. A new generation of wireless isps
is emerging, providing branded access to wi-fi services in hotels and
other places where people might find themselves away from home with their
laptop.
Analysts such as Cahners In-Stat expect the wi-fi market to
grow to over $5 billion by 2005 even in the face of rapidly falling hardware
prices (a simple installation can cost well under $200), with corresponding
effects elsewhere in the digital economy. Some have noted that it makes home
broadband connections much more appealing, for example, because
consumers can share them with other family members and be unconstrained by
the location of the primary home pc. |
