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Wireless data dominates CTIA show
New phones and networks are offered



By Scott Tyler Shafer March 26, 2004



It may not happen overnight, but the foundation for an empowered and connected mobile workforce is being laid.

At the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) trade show last week, attention centered on handsets and the extension of high-speed cellular networks that deliver data. These two distinct movements are expected to have a significant impact on the enterprise.

Verizon Wireless announced it would extend its high-speed data network nationwide, thereby giving consumers and road warriors data rates between 300Kbps and 500Kbps. The service, BroadbandAccess, will be introduced later this year and will reach phones, PDAs, and notebook computers equipped with PC modem cards. BroadbandAccess uses a next-generation CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology called EV-DO (Evolution-Data Only), which, as the name implies, delivers data only.

According to Richard Lynch, executive vice president and CTO of Verizon Wireless, enterprises are clamoring for this kind of service so that they can make their existing applications available to employees on the move.

"They're breaking my door down," Lynch added.

Pete Thompson, director of marketing at T-Mobile's HotSpot division, agreed that the enterprise is an important market for wireless technology. Because of this, the company is targeting T-Mobile HotSpot -- which provides high-speed, Wi-Fi Internet access -- at consultants, journalists, real estate agents, and insurance salespeople.

"We have a robust Wi-Fi solution that extends the office with great security," Thompson said. "We're focused on the enterprise road warrior."

T-Mobile offers wireless access via Wi-Fi technology at 4,000 U.S. locations, mostly Starbucks coffeehouses, Borders Books & Music stores, and Kinko's. The company, however, is not finished. Thompson said that by the end of the year T-Mobile will have 10,000 hot-spot locations in the United States and Europe combined.

T-Mobile will augment its Wi-Fi service with its cellular network, which uses GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) technology to reach users after they have left a hot spot. But the demand for that capability remains low, Thompson said, pointing to the climbing average session time users connect at Wi-Fi locations to illustrate that notebook computers -- and not handsets -- are what employees are using to access data and applications.

Undeterred, handset makers continue to add robust functionality to phones and PDAs in anticipation of these devices being used to access data from an enterprise or for entertainment.

At the show, Motorola introduced two new phones clearly designed to eat up data. The A845, a UMTS/WCDMA (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service/Wideband CDMA) phone includes two-way video calling, GPS (Global Positioning System) location capability, MP3 audio downloading, and other features.

The second phone, the A840, combines GSM and CDMA technology in a single phone to allow travelers to use the phone in North America, Europe, and other regions while retaining the same number.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/03/26/13NNctia_1.html