Wi-Fi/Cellular at Convergence Crossroads

Users can have a single phone number that reaches them on the campus Wi-Fi network, which extends across a space of 300,000 square feet, or on the cellular network when they are out of the office -- provided that the number called is the IP PBX number, says Nowak. The system extends phone calls, four-digit PBX dialing and phone transfers to the Cingular network; employees use browser-based Outlook Web Access on the CN620 for e-mail, he says.

John DeFeo, corporate vice president of enterprise products at Motorola, says this setup is in a half-dozen trials around the world, but Motorola has decided not to deploy the CN620 as a commercial product. Rather, the company intends to enhance the handset and related system components with unified mailboxes, presence capabilities, enterprise-class instant messaging and possibly additional Wi-Fi radio support. The next-generation system is scheduled to ship in the first half of next year, according to a company spokeswoman.

While a range of converged devices are already emerging, some IT executives would rather see cellular service stabilized and coverage enhanced before getting still more sexy handset choices.

Dale N. Frantz, CIO at Auto Warehousing Co. in Tacoma, Wash., says, "[The] bane of my existence is that people love Treo [handheld] devices, because the push technology for 'always-on' e-mail access is unreliable. The network drops sessions and user credentials between cell towers and creates a significant support burden.

"It seems there haven't been many performance gains in cellular communications," adds Frantz. "I believe that stabilizing the network services is at least as important as delivering the next device that plays 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.' "

TECH SPECS: Mobile/Wireless Technologies TECHNOLOGY AVERAGE THROUGHPUT BUSINESS APPLICATIONS AVAILABILITY/STATUS CELLULAR/3G WIDE-AREA WIRELESS EDGE 75-135Kbit/sec. Wide-area data access for highly mobile users (field service, public safety, sales force, road warriors) Widely available domestically and internationally 1xEV-DO 400-700Kbit/sec. Available in about three-fourths of the U.S.'s major markets domestically; somewhat available internationally 1xRTT 30-70Kbit/sec. Widely available domestically UMTS/HSDPA 400-700Kbit/sec. Available domestically in about 20 markets 1xEV-DO Rev. A 3.1Mbit/sec. downlink, 1.8Mbit/sec. uplink (shared) Wide-area mobile data, voice and video access for highly mobile users Services expected in 2006 WI-FI WIRELESS LAN 802.11a 24-30Mbit/sec. Mobile alternative to cabled Ethernet Higher-speed alternative to cellular, with limits on coverage and range Indoor enterprise mesh network to alleviate cabling limitations and costs Outdoor municipal and public-safety mesh network services Infrastructure products widely available; clients less pervasive 802.11b 6-7Mbit/sec. Widely deployed 802.11g 24-30Mbit/sec. in 11g-only mode; 14-19Mbit/sec. with 11b clients Widely deployed 802.11n 100Mbit/sec. IEEE Draft 1.0 rejected as proposed standard; a final standard and commercial products are expected in 2007 WIMAX 802.16-2004 (fixed) 70Mbit/sec. shared Last-mile access with quicker provisioning than T1 Backhaul between mesh networks Standards-based services in trials with AT&T and others 802.16e/802.16-2005 (mobile) 1.6Mbit/sec. per subscriber for a 100-subscriber sector Wide-area mobile data, voice and video access for roaming users Poised for 2006 trial in the Sprint Nextel network; embedded notebook connections and network services expected in late 2007

Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in California's Silicon Valley. You can contact her at joanie@jwexler.com.