Sprint jumps into public-access Wi-Fi

Bob Brewin   Today’s Top Stories   or  Other Mobile and Wireless Stories  

Mobile Device Management: Wresting Order from Chaos Mobile Broadband Reveals New World of Notebook Productivity The Impact of Social Networks on Mobility Strategies Computerworld Technology Briefing- Mobile Device Management: Wresting Order from Chaos Improving Correspondence Management for Financial Services Firms with Adobe LifeCycle ES Delivering on the Promise of ELearning Mobility @ the Speed of Business Virtual Reality SaaS Solutions for Remote Systems Management Sign up to receive Mobile and Wireless Resource Alerts

July 21, 2003 (Computerworld) -- Sprint Corp. has announced plans to climb aboard the Wi-FI bandwagon and offer public-access Wi-Fi service at over 2,100 locations by the end of the year. The move follows similar efforts by carriers such as T-Mobile USA Inc., Verizon Communications and AT&T Corp.
The majority of the "hot spot" locations it will turn on this year will be through roaming agreements with Wayport Inc. in Austin and Airpath Wireless Inc. in Toledo, Ohio, according to Jason Guesman, director of business marketing at Sprint PCS Group in Overland Park, Kan. Both Wayport and Airpath are established Wi-Fi network operators.
Guesman said Sprint would concentrate on installing its own hot spots in Tier 1 locations such as airports, convention centers and hotels and is aggressively pursuing public-access Wi-Fi deals in those locations.
Earlier this month, McDonald's Corp. tapped Wayport, which provides Wi-Fi service in 500 locations, to provide it with public-access Wi-Fi service for hot spots it has opened in its San Francisco Bay area restaurants (see story).
Airpath recently signed a deal with Aeronautical Radio Inc. in Annapolis, Md., to deliver managed Wi-Fi services to airport public-access hot spots as well as a "shared-resource" wireless network for use by airport tenants, including airlines, restaurants and stores. Aeronautical Radio is a nonprofit company owned by the U.S. airlines and provides a wide variety of radio services to airlines and airports.
Airpath, which provides back-end services to 300 Wi-Fi hot-spot operators around the globe, will also provide Sprint with Wi-Fi management service, including credit card authentication, end-user management and customer care services.
Sprint also plans to offer its wireless customers software, called PCS Connection Manager, which would allow them to easily switch between its cellular network and the Wi-Fi network. Sprint's cellular network offers data rates ranging from 70K to 80Kbit/sec. within miles of a cell tower and is based on the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 1xRTT standard.
Wi-Fi public-access hot spots are based on the 802.11b industry standard and provide raw data rates of 11Mbit/sec., but only at short ranges of less than 300 ft. Sprint PCS customers who want to be able to access both wireless services will need either a phone or data card that operates on the CDMA network, as well as a Wi-FI client card.
"This combination of cellular and Wi-Fi should be a hit with people who want remote, high-speed connectivity from anywhere," said Jeff Kagan, an Atlanta-based telecommunications analyst. "It blends the best of both worlds."
Guesman said Sprint, which currently charges $80 per month for unlimited cellular data service, plans to investigate a number of pricing schemes for cellular and Wi-Fi data service overthe next year. He declined to provide details.
Guesman called $80 a month a good deal compared with the unlimited cellular/Wi-Fi data plan priced by T-Mobile at $29.99 a month, because Bellevue, Wash.-based T-Mobile's cellular network operates on the General Packet Radio Standard, which has a throughput of only 20K to 30Kbit/sec.

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

"In Monday's IT Blogwatch, Richi Jennings watches Apple rumor blogs run at full throttle. Seems as though Steve Jobs will..." Read more... "Apple, on Tuesday will release a full plate of new portable Macs.  In the months leading up to the event,..." Read more... Read more Mobile & Wireless posts or See all Blogs

Feds considering changes to H-1B application process in wake of report Exploit code loose for six-month-old Windows bug With market meltdown, which tech firms become predator or prey? More top stories...

The Grill: Privacy is a thing of the past, says private investigator Report: World Bank servers breached repeatedly Apple asks judge to make iPhone lawsuit moot

Health hazards for IT workers -- how that desk job wears your body down Too much junk food, too little exercise and a 24/7 tether to technology? Your body ain't happy, friend. Let us count the pains. NASA robot sends back evidence it's snowing on Mars Instruments on the surface of Mars have detected falling snow that is likely evaporating before it reaches the planet. Wall Street's collapse may be computer science's gain One positive development stemming from the collapse of Wall Street may be a boost in interest in computer science and IT careers among students who were previously interested in financial services jobs. Installing Linux apps: A few good tips Getting new software installed on Linux doesn't have to be hard, but it can differ depending on what you're installing. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland Security Apple's iPhone Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader Bill Gates steps down BlackBerry Legal Battle Data Security Breaches Electronic Voting Firefox H-1B Visas HP's Boardroom Scandal Handheld Devices Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Microsoft Legal Issues Microsoft's Vista Open Source RFID Technology SCO's Linux Fight Sarbanes-Oxley Act Spam Voice Over IP Wi-Fi Windows Meta File Vulnerability Windows XP Service Pack 3 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class 2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2006 Salary Survey 2007 Best Places to Work in IT 2007 IT Forecast 2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders 40 Years of Computerworld ASPs, Take Two Best Places to Work in IT 2003 Best Places to Work in IT 2004 Best Places to Work in IT 2005 Best Places to Work in IT 2006 Business Intelligence Home Runs Business Intelligence: Smarter BI Business Intelligence: The Future of BI CRM Goes Vertical CRM: Sober CRM Career Planning Guide 2005 Careers: IT Profession 2010 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005 Data Management: Mining for Gems Data Management: Taming Data Chaos Development: Hard-Workin' Web Sites Development: New Tools New Choices Development: The New World of Application Development Development: The Web Services Tsunami Development: Web Services Hurdles Disaster Recovery: Preparing for the Worst E-commerce Grows Up E-mail/Groupware: Big Decisions Faces of Mobile IT Forecast 2006 Global Mobile Hardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple Challenges Hardware: On-Demand Un-Hyped Hardware: The Shape of Things to Come Horizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge Technologies IT Management: Guide to Managing Vendors IT Management: Navigating Global IT IT Management: Recovery Ahead IT Management: The Future of IT IT Management: The Resourceful Project Manager Innovative Technology Awards 2004 Management: Reinventing IT Microsoft in Transition Mobile/Wireless Leaders and Laggards Mobile/Wireless: The Untethered Worker Mobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge Costs Network Management: Taking Control Networking: Turbulence Ahead! Networking: VoIP Goes Mainstream Operating Systems: In the Slow Lane Operating Systems: Linux Goes Global Operating Systems: Should You Nix Unix? Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's Guide Outsourcing: Outsourcing Dangers Premier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in Class Premier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in Class ROI: Do the Math! Salary Survey 2003 Salary Survey 2004 Salary Survey 2005 Security Action Plan Security: Compliance Headaches Security: Proactive Security Security: Risk and Reward Security: Tips From Security Pros Souped-up Security Storage: Battling Complexity Storage: Cheap & Secure Data Stores Storage: Stretching Your Storage Dollars Storage: The Lean Storage Machine Storage: The New Rules of Storage Storage: The Ultimate Backup Guide Supply Chain: Missing Links Supply Chain: RFID Reality Check The Business of Security Web 2.0 Security Wireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone The File Data Management Zone Security Management Zone The SAS Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone Windows Protection Zone The Enterprise Search Zone Software as a Service Zone The Security Zone See your link here

Mobility @ the Speed of Business Download this new tech briefing, free, compliments of HP. (Source: HP) Enterprises have a keen interest in making sure their increasingly mobile workers can get information when they need it, where they need it - not just when there is a Wi-Fi hotspot around. Many are turning to embedded broadband modems as the most cost-effective, easiest to manage solution to connect workers to the right applications. The results speak for themselves in this new tech briefing. Download this executive briefing  Virtualization Everywhere Download this white paper, free, compliments of Citrix. (Source: Citrix) Adoption of virtualization is concentrated among large enterprises, while adoption by mid-sized companies has been much slower. For these companies, the cost and complexity of server virtualization solutions has been a barrier. In this paper, we'll discuss how Citrix XenServer" provides simple, economical server virtualization for any size company. Download now! Download this white paper  The Promise of Mobile Unified Communications The Promise of Mobile Unified Communications Download this webcast, free, compliments of RIM. Go to the webcast  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Business Transaction Management: Facilitating the Management of Virtual Environments Quick Sizing Guide for SAS Grid Running on HP BladeSystems and EVA Storage Prudential Financial protects its brand with Symantec Data Loss Prevention solutions View more whitepapers

• Feds considering changes to H-1B application process in wake of report
• The Grill: Privacy is a thing of the past, says private investigator
• Exploit code loose for six-month-old Windows bug
• More top stories 

Intercept Spam & Viruses With MessageLabs MessageLabs is offering a complimentary 30 day trial of its managed Anti-virus and Anti-spam security solutions. MessageLabs guarantees complete protection against all know and unknown email threats. By providing 24 hour support, your business can increase productivity and decrease risk. Register for a complimentary trial and receive a free datasheet. Download this white paper now!