Waiting for WiMax
Tony Fuller, CIO at a retailer with 3000 shops and 7000 trucks, is holding out for a single, ubiquitous mobile network technology. "It is very difficult to find a consistent service across the entire country," says CIO Tony Fuller. This is problematic managers responsible for multiple stores can traverse three states in the same day, he says.
Fuller thinks mobile WiMax might solve the problem. The technology promises about 1.6Mbit/sec. per subscriber, outstripping the bandwidth of today's broadband cellular networks.
Sprint Nextel is actively testing WiMax, and Intel, a key developer of the technology, says it is also in trials with other carriers. Intel plans to embed mobile WiMax connections directly into laptop motherboards next year.
"We're looking for one technology rather than one provider," Fuller says. "If the user has to figure out what kind of connectivity is available, that's awkward. If it can be transparent, that's worth its weight in gold."
With the advent of mobile WiMax, Fuller hopes his company will need to train people on only one technology and use just one connection in each device. "If you add up the number of people I have to cover, times the cost of multiple network connections each, that gets [expensive]," he says.
Such benefits aren't guaranteed, however, considering that today's competing cellular service offerings, although based on the same technology, don't use compatible connection gear.
Dual-mode devices ready to roll
Laptops, which are already shipping with embedded Wi-Fi connections, are now gaining integrated mobile WAN connections, too. Lenovo Group's Z-, T- and X-Series ThinkPads, for example, now ship with both embedded Wi-Fi and 400Kbit to 700Kbit/sec EV-DO connections. Dell began directly integrating Cingular Wireless HSDPA/UMTS connections into its Latitude line of notebooks in late March; the connections are backward compatible with EDGE and GPRS networks throughout the world. Dell has also said it will integrate Verizon Wireless' EV-DO connectivity into its Inspiron and Latitude lines this year.
Dual-mode wireless handheld devices are also emerging. Users can choose from several dual-mode mobile devices for running data over either a mobile WAN or a Wi-Fi LAN, including units from Hewlett-Packard, Intermec Technologies, Motorola and Psion Teklogix. Research In Motion offers a BlackBerry that also supports voice/data over cellular or over an 802.11b Wi-Fi network, but not both.
"It's crazy that you can't combine Wi-Fi and GSM in the BlackBerry," says Paul Limon, IT manager for the Americas at JCB. "We're all road warriors, and we all want [these services] on a single device for a single price and consistent and reliable speeds." When it announced its Wi-Fi- capable BlackBerry last year, RIM said that it would eventually support both cellular and Wi-Fi in a single device, but the company hasn't yet announced a delivery date.
Some manufacturers do offer dual-mode options for voice and data. Symbol Technologies offers a high-end MC70 starting at $US2000. The rugged, multifunction device supports Wi-Fi and cellular data and voice, scanning, push-to-talk and other capabilities.
In Japan, the NEC N900iL dual-mode handset is available for use with NTT DoCoMo's third-generation service. Other devices enabling voice and data over both Wi-Fi and mobile WAN services are expected from Nokia and G-Tek Electronics this year.