By Shelley Widhalm
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published June 3, 2004
Fairfax resident Michael Kelley expects to be able to
connect to the Internet through completely portable and
mobile broadband access in one to two years.
"Now, you have to sit down and
be at one location to be connected," says Mr. Kelley,
professor of telecommunications and English at George
Mason University in Fairfax. "You can't get in your car
and stay connected. All the wire and broadband you can't
drag behind your car."
Mr. Kelley expects a proposed
Federal Communications Commission ruling this summer to
be the next entry point for wireless technology.
The FCC proposes dedicating vacant
space in the broadcast television spectrum -- a portion
of the radio-wave region of the electromagnetic spectrum
-- for use by unlicensed broadband devices and Internet
service providers. The television spectrum, or band, transmits
signals farther than the area of the spectrum currently
licensed for broadband. Licensed spectrum is purchased
at auction from the FCC, allowing companies to use certain
airwaves. Unlicensed spectrum is for public uses such
as cordless phones and garage-door openers.
"It's a waste of a valuable resource
when people are clamoring for more spectrum," Mr. Kelley
says.
Broadband,
a measure of bandwidth, uses a wide band of electromagnetic
frequencies. It can carry a large amount of data through
wired or wireless mediums, matching or exceeding the speed
of digital subscriber lines (DSL). Electromagnetic frequencies
are measured in cycles per second, but for technological
uses, they are measured in bits of information per second.
DSL,
a wired medium fixed to a phone line, carries data at
an average speed of 350 kilobits (a kilobit is 1,000 bits)
per second; cable, 1 megabit (1 million bits) per second.
DSL and cable act as modems, devices that convert data
from one form into another to allow the transmission of
that data. The slowest medium, a dial-up modem connected
to a telephone line, carries data at a maximum speed of
56 kilobits per second.
"We see a day where you, as a
consumer, can be completely mobile and have fast access
to the Internet for all of your computer and communication
needs," says Julie Coppernoll, director of marketing for
the Wireless Networking Group at Intel Corp., a semiconductor
equipment manufacturer based in Portland, Ore.
That mobility, she says, can be
achieved by opening up the existing spectrum for additional
uses and by developing technology that takes advantage
of current spectrum uses.
One such development is expanding
Wi-Fi, or "wireless fidelity," hot spots into wireless
microwave access (WIMAX). The
Wi-Fi hot spots are wireless Internet access points
found at places such as coffee shops, restaurants and
airports, along with in-home networks that have Wi-Fi
equipment installed. Wi-Fi uses unlicensed radio spectrum
and typically has a 300-foot signal range.
Customers in a Wi-Fi area pay
a fee, monthly subscription or nothing to connect to the
access point, as long as they have a Wi-Fi-trademarked
device, which is built in or optional in some laptops
or can be found in a PC card that comes with the unit
or can be inserted into the computer's slot.
WIMAX, the step beyond Wi-Fi,
is in development phases, with trials of the technology
likely next year and actual deployment in 2006, Ms. Coppernoll
says. WIMAX, as envisioned, will provide larger blankets
of wireless access in urban and rural areas, theoretically
up to 20 miles, but more likely at three to six miles,
she says. WIMAX likely will provide an access speed of
11 to 54 megabits per second, compared with Wi-Fi's 6
megabits per second, she says.
"Wi-Fi can give you higher speeds
and no mobility, and cellular can give you mobility at
somewhat slower speeds," says John Johnson, director of
corporate communications for Verizon, based in Laurel.
"You couldn't jump on a train and use your Wi-Fi connection.
It's essentially fixed wireless."
Cellular phone users can access
the Internet either by using the handset as a modem connected
to a laptop or connecting directly through the handset's
touch pad with Internet data transmitted in text form,
as long as the carriers provide the services.
"Most of the wireless networks
that are out there don't have the same throughput, or
speed, to give you the exact same experience as you do
have on your laptop," says Kevin Hussey, director of wireless
data for Nextel Communications, based in Reston.
Cellular phones generally lack
a laptop's keyboard, making it inconvenient to access
the Internet, says Alan Reiter, president and founder
of Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing, a consulting
firm for wireless data communications based in Chevy Chase.
Mr. Reiter points to the Research
in Motion BlackBerry and the PalmOne wireless hand-held
devices, which combine a mobile phone and handset for
typing in data, and he says he expects cellular companies
to develop similar products this year.
"For people who want to send messages,
keyboards on your phone make a big difference," he says.
Cellular carriers are improving
their phones' other capabilities, including audio and
video, live television, camera and game functions.
"The common theme is a richer
experience for the end user, and that's being brought
about by enhanced devices," says Dale Knoop, manager of
multimedia services for Sprint, based in Overland Park,
Kan.
Another theme is "invisible" technology,
says Phil McCoog, technology strategist for consumer imaging
and printing for Hewlett-Packard Co., based in Vancouver,
Wash. "We're going to transition from thinking about technology
to the compelling experience where technology is invisible,"
he says.
For instance, Wi-Fi is available
in the home but is difficult to set up and maintain and
is used mostly by those interested in "techie gadgets,"
says Mr. McCoog, who adds that within the next year, Wi-Fi
should be easier to use. "If we're doing our job right,
all our technology will become seamless," he says.
The wiring already is on that
path.
"This whole wireless-data movement
is freeing us up from the cables, so you have access to
that information anytime, anywhere, as long as you have
the wireless device with you," Mr. Hussey says. |