[MLB-WIRELESS] Hotspots article from ACA Connections magazine

[Steven Haigh]

Interesting how there isn't much said about community wlans, which I guess
is probably more wide spread than most commercial ventures at this point in
time....

Signed,
Steven Haigh
http://wireless.org.au
(Visit https://wireless.org.au to install our Root Certificate.)

You can lead a fool to wisdom but you can't make him think.
We have enough youth. What we need is a fountain of smart.
I am root. If you see me laughing, you better have a backup.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <vak at alphalink.com.au>
To: <melbwireless at wireless.org.au>
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2003 7:22 PM
Subject: [MLB-WIRELESS] Hotspots article from ACA Connections magazine


> Taken from :
>
>
http://www.aca.gov.au/aca_home/publications/reports/connections/issue23.htm
>
>
>
> Hotspots - how hot are they?
>
> In Australia, most public wireless hotspots are in airport lounges, coffee
> shops and lifestyle cafés in inner-city commercial districts. They allow
> customers use their own laptop computers or personal digital assistants,
> fitted with wireless cards, to access the Internet using the café's
> wireless system.
>
> Broadly speaking, hotspots are premises where a wireless communications
> system built to the international standard IEEE 802.11 has been installed.
> Hotspot technology, also called wireless local area network (WLAN) and
> 'WiFi', is increasingly used by small businesses to network computers and
> peripherals in a single premise.
>
> Since September 2002, owners of hotspots who supply carriage services to
> the public (access to the Internet is a carriage service) have been
> exempted from the requirement to hold a telecommunications carrier
licence.
> However, this exemption is only applicable if carriage services are
> provided to members of the public at the premises where the wireless
device
> is installed and not at other premises.
>
> Of Australia's 92 carrier licence holders, 42 use wireless technology (not
> necessarily IEEE 802.11) to provide carriage services to the public. Since
> June 2002, nine of the 14 carrier licences issued have been to companies
> intending to use wireless technology (primarily IEEE 802.11) to service
> niche markets.
>
> The number of public hotspots in Australia has increased considerably in
> the last 12 months. There are estimated to be 80 public hotspots currently
> operating in Melbourne (more than 60 operated by Azure Wireless), fewer in
> Sydney and a small number in other capital cities. Brisbane airport is
> currently the only airport offering hotspot access to the general public.
>
> Telstra has stated it will start installing public wireless Internet
access
> in up to 600 fast food restaurants around Australia in mid-2003. Optus has
> recently announced that in the next 12 to 18 months it will provide
> wireless Internet access using IEEE 802.11 in 500 Australian locations,
> with services focused on its business customers.
>
> Industry commentators have estimated the number of hotspots worldwide,
> although these estimates vary. The number in Asia may be approaching
> 20,000, North America has more than 5,000 and the number across the United
> Kingdom and Europe is thought to be in the low thousands. Public hotspots
> in Asia, the UK and the US are primarily operated by regional commercial
> chains such as coffee houses and food outlets. The UK and the US also have
> hotspots in transport hubs such as highway service stations, railway
> stations and airports.
>
> Factors affecting growth in the Australian hotspot market are user demand
> for seamless access¾being able to access the preferred Internet service
> provider (ISP) at any hotspot¾and elimination of the need for multiple ISP
> accounts. Hotspot access providers are tackling these issues. For example,
> Azure Wireless has roaming agreements with three ISPs to service its
> hotspots. Similarly, iPrimus has a strategy to enter into roaming
> agreements with other hotspot access providers.
>
> Resolution of this issue in the future may be assisted by the adoption of
> an interoperable standard. This standard is aimed at achieving automatic
> network switching and roaming and is currently under development by
> overseas industry participants.
>
> Concern about hotspot security is another issue that will affect growth.
> Australian manufacturers and distributors of IEEE 802.11 devices have been
> upgrading security beyond the current standard. However, hotspot access
> providers and equipment manufacturers and distributors may need to take a
> more active role in proving and marketing current or future security
> measures.
>
> The ACA is keen for users of hotspots to also take an active role in
> securing their own networks. It advises users of any wireless
> communications systems to consider their overall network set-up and
> security procedures, and not to rely solely on in-built security measures.
>
> The issue of wireless system reliability may also affect growth in
> Australia. IEEE 802.11 devices share their 'public park' radiofrequency
> spectrum with many other devices and may be subjected to interference.
> Typically, in public park spectrum, interference increases as the number
of
> users or number of devices operating in that spectrum increases. Consumers
> should be aware that the effective communications range and the rate of
> information transfer reduce as levels of interference increase. However,
> the risk of interference is reduced by the sophisticated design of current
> wireless equipment.
>
> The ACA will continue to work with industry and consumers to resolve
> hotspot issues.
>
> Answers to frequently asked questions about WLANs in the 2.4 GHz band
> accessing the public telecommunications network are on the ACA website.
>
> Information about radiofrequency planning for wireless LANs is on the ACA
> website.
>
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> mail2web - Check your email from the web at
> http://mail2web.com/ .
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo at wireless.org.au
> with "unsubscribe melbwireless" in the body of the message
>


To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo at wireless.org.au
with "unsubscribe melbwireless" in the body of the message