Hi,
Apart from this 'free' Internet access there are some ISPs in the US
offering cells of paid Internet access via IEEE802.11b (WiFi). Is the
Link Institute aware of anything happening along these lines (either
'free' or 'for a fee' ISP access) in Oz?
Thanks
Mike Biber
Managing Director
Asia Pacific Networx Pty. Limited
1b Cambridge Street (PO Box 347)
Enmore NSW 2042 Australia
Ph: +61 2 9519 0966 Fx: +61 2 9519 0933 Mb: 0412 058 808
Em: mbiber@apnetworx.com.au W3: http://www.apnetworx.com.au
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-link@www.anu.edu.au [mailto:owner-link@www.anu.edu.au] On
Behalf Of Tony Barry
Sent: Tuesday, 28 August 2001 1:04 PM
To: link@www.anu.edu.au
Subject: [LINK] 'Parasitic grid' could undermine wireless revenues
Extracted item for information.
Source:NewsScan Daily, 27 August 2001 ("Above The Fold")
- - - - -
'PARASITIC GRID' COULD UNDERMINE WIRELESS REVENUES
An underground movement is afoot to deploy free wireless access zones in
urban areas, building on the increasing popularity of wi-fi or 802.11b
technology -- a standard for wireless Ethernet that works on an
unlicensed
portion of the spectrum. The movement, dubbed the "parasitic grid" by
some,
is already thriving in New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Portland,
British
Columbia and London. The concept is based on community-minded
volunteers,
who offer other Internet users within a certain range -- say 300 feet --
a
"free ride" on their wireless connections. The trend is not going
unnoticed
by the large wireless carriers in these cities. "We are aware of the
free
services springing up and are considering 802.11b wireless access as
well,
not in place of currently scheduled rollouts but as an adjunct," says an
AT&T Wireless spokesman. Meanwhile, so-called "aggregators" have
developed
software that resides in the mobile device that can find any available
network and connect the user to it, creating, in effect,
metropolitan-wide
free networks that may ultimately compete with fee-based wireless
services.
"It would even be able to say, 'Here is a list of the networks found'
and
indicate which are free and which charge a fee," says an official at a
company that provides 802.11b services at hotels and airports.
(InfoWorld 24
Aug 2001)
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/08/24/010824hnfreewireless.x
ml
-- phone +61 2 6241 7659 mailto:me@Tony-Barry.emu.id.au http://purl.oclc.org/NET/Tony.Barry
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