• The Wireless Explosion
• Cell Phone Access and WebClippings
• What is Bluetooth
• 802.11 Wireless Ethernet LANs "ready for prime time"
• Wireless Internet, Technology Wrap-Up

Wireless Internet access is a technology whose time has come. This series looks at the various approaches and the implications for hoteliers and their guests.

Now that the barriers of cost, speed and availability have come down, wireless Internet offers significant, practical benefits for travelers and the industries that serve them. For the hotelier, the emergence of this technology represents an opportunity to achieve competitive differentiation by offering a leading-edge amenity to guests.

The Wireless Explosion

The growing interest in wireless Internet stems from a number of factors:

• Technology advances: In the past, cost, speed and interoperability issues made wireless networking impractical for widespread use.  Now, low-cost wireless network cards are available that offer speeds comparable to standard wired networks. In addition, standards groups have been formed to ensure interoperability among different vendors’ equipment. 

• Rise in mobile computing: According to Andrew Seybold’s Outlook, there are 45 million mobile professionals (employees who are out of the office 20 percent of the time or more) and the number will increase to 67 million by 2002. Both the business and leisure traveler are increasingly dependent on Internet access to send email, collaborate remotely, check their schedules, make travel reservations, look up directions and conduct transactions.

• Increased use of wireless networks in corporate and retail environments: Wireless local area network (LAN) technology first took hold in large enterprises for vertical applications related to supply chain logistics, such as tracking of goods in transit to or from warehouses, inventory control, and price data management. Now the technology is proliferating into the internal IT infrastructure, supporting mobile networked computing while in the enterprise campus environment.  Costs have dropped and performance increased to the point that wireless LAN technology can be used as a replacement for wired network infrastructure in many instances.  In 1999, Cahners estimated that some 200,000 companies were using wireless LANs, and predicted that the usage could grow to 3 million companies by 2003.

• Wireless products for home: Companies like Apple, Lucent and Symbol are also making wireless networking accessible for the home. With the office already covered, this leaves “the road” as the missing link for connectivity.

The buzz about wireless can sometimes be confusing because there are multiple platforms including laptop PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and cell phones—and multiple solutions for the different platforms. Over the rest of this week we’ll review the different solutions--cell phone access (including Wireless Application Protocol or WAP-enabled devices), Bluetooth and 802.11b (wireless Ethernet LANs)—and compare them in terms of speed, cost, ease of use, compatibility and the applications for which they are best suited.

We’ll also have a follow-up series the week of June 12 that delves into the applications of wireless technology for travelers in hotels and airports, and how hotels can reap the financial and competitive benefits of this amenity.

Cell Phone Access and WebClippings

The first thing many people think of when they hear the word wireless is a cell phone. Cell phones are now being used for Internet access by some travelers, usually to receive specific information such as stock quotes, flight schedules or news headlines.  Modified, text-based versions of Web content for cell phones and PDAs are available from some providers. (This content is usually based on the Wireless Application Protocol, or WAP.) For example, Sprint offers Internet-ready phones that can access the web to download Wireless Web Updates, and a “MiniBrowser”  for email and surfing.  Palm offers “web clipping” applications that let the user request information from certain sites to be “clipped” and downloaded to their wireless Palm Pilot. 

Another twist is the use of the cell phone as a modem to download data from the Internet to a laptop computer. This is more common in Europe than the U.S.

The main reasons for using a cell phone as an Internet access device are availability and broad coverage areas—many people already own cell phones and they can be used wherever cellular service exists. The major limitations of cell phones are speed, expense and viewing capabilities. The fastest cell phones can only transmit data at 19.2 Kbps (although some new phones coming out soon in Japan will go up to 128 Kbps). Cell phones are not suited for downloading large files or messages, and their screens do not support the graphical interface that is so key to the Web’s effectiveness. 

What is Bluetooth

Bluetooth is another wireless networking model that has been receiving attention in the press. Originally developed by Ericsson (and now supported by other vendors as well), Bluetooth is a specification for low-cost, low-powered, short-range radio links between cell phones, pagers, laptops, PDAs and other portable devices. Bluetooth was designed to replace the cables required to connect these kinds of devices and can also connect virtually any peripheral device including printers, desktop PCs, fax machines and keyboards. 

Bluetooth lends itself to tasks such as synching calendar or address book info across your cell phone or PDA and notebook. Other possible applications include laptop Internet access using a Bluetooth-connected cell phone as a modem, or downloading coupons or credit authorization from your laptop to your PDA to present at a cash register. 

Some Bluetooth proponents envision the technology being used to create a wireless extension of an existing network, or to form an ad hoc network between devices. However, the low power and short range (25-30 feet) of the Bluetooth technology would present constraints in this scenario, and the speed (less than 1 Mbps) is not practical for sending large files and graphics.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) comprises Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba, with more than 1400 “adopters” who have obtained a no-cost license for the specification. However, adoption will take time as the Bluetooth radio antennae are embedded in the device and thus new devices must be purchased in order to use it.

Wireless Internet - 802.11 Wireless Ethernet LANs

While they have been in existence for some time, wireless local area networks (LANs) now are “ready for prime time” due to the increasing standardization, wider availability, higher performance and lower cost of wireless network equipment.  Wireless LANs connected to broadband networks let travelers do everything they do in the office — access the Internet, send and receive email (including downloading large files and graphics), and use company networks — all at high speeds using their laptop and a wireless Ethernet card. 

The current version of the standard for wireless Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b provides for 11Mbps performance. This is up to 200 times faster than cellular-based services, and is comparable to corporate wired Ethernet LANs operating at 10 Mbps. 

The 802.11b standard is backed by the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA), an industry consortium of leading PC and networking providers that promotes and certifies interoperability of wireless network equipment. The 802.11b cards are available from Lucent, 3Com, Cisco (Aironet), and others; and computer manufacturers such as Dell, Toshiba, IBM and Apple are shipping laptops with these cards installed (or built in, in the case of the iBook). Several PDAs will also support the 802.11b standard.

Wireless LANs are being used to provide convenient Internet access to travelers in hotel public areas and meeting rooms, airports and other locations frequented by travelers (see the June 12 series for more on applications). Travelers can use the laptops they are already carrying and the same applications they use in the office, making it possible to work on a file on the plane or in a hotel, send it to the office or customer, and download new messages to continue working. They can even use the same wireless card in the office now that many companies are adding wireless components to their corporate LANs.

Wayport has chosen to build its wireless Internet access solution on the 802.11b standard because it offers advantages including:

• High-speed data transmission for large files
• Standards-based solution supported by major PC and networking vendors
• Ability to use standard laptops, browsers and applications
• Large coverage areas—one access point covers 20,000 to 50,000 square feet
• Ease of installation and use
• Applicability across many environments including hospitality/travel, corporate, retail, manufacturing

Wireless Internet, Technology Wrap-Up

Over the past week, we have discussed the rapid growth of the wireless Internet market and the various methods that are being used to provide access. The chart below compares the major features of each method.
 
 

In our next series appearing June 12-16, we will discuss the specific applications of wireless Internet in the hotel environment and other locations frequented by travelers. We will also talk about the ways to market the service to your guest and the opportunities for increased revenues, guest satisfaction and brand differentiation this technology offers.