In This Issue: June 2004
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Blanket Coverage Credit: Sean Buckley
Wireless carriers are at a crossroads: Faced with an ever-consolidating market, WNP (wireless number portability) mandates and customer churn, rolling out compelling services with a consistent connection has never been more pressing. To meet these challenges, wireless carriers and building owners are teaming to “wire” buildings for coverage. Key drivers of this in-building wireless phenomenon are increased voice quality as well as the emergence of wireless data networks, i.e., GSM/GPRS (Cingular, AT&T, T-Mobile), CDMA 1XRTT (Sprint) and EVDO (Verizon), not to mention Wi-Fi. Nextel has even developed an integrated Wi-Fi/cellular solution with RadioFrame Networks.
Ed Rerisi, vice president of research for Allied Business Intelligence, says growth in mobile data and reliance on connectivity are contributing to the growth of the in-building market, which ABI predicts will reach at least $1 billion by the end of the decade. “Some of the emerging solutions can handle both cellular and Wi-Fi, so with a single installation you can handle multiple wireless services,” said Rerisi. “An in-building solution enables carriers to differentiate themselves with superior coverage, but the market is not growing in leaps and bounds because only so many buildings need to be wired.”
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Finally, a Free Market for Telecom
Credit: Steve Rosenbush
When it comes to assigning blame for the telecom meltdown, there are plenty of obvious candidates. Was it the fault of Bernie Ebbers, who now faces criminal charges related to bankrupt and scandal-scarred WorldCom (now MCI)? Was it Jack Grubman, the Salomon Brothers (C ) analyst who played both sides of the fence, covering WorldCom and other upstarts while helping to "sculpt" the industry as an investment banker? Was it former Drexel Burnham banker Gary Winnick, whose Global Crossing (GLBC ) empire was tarnished by bankruptcy and scandal? They all had a hand in creating the financial mess, which wiped out $2 trillion in capital and cost the economy several hundred thousand jobs.
The industry's problems can't be fully explained by the actions of a few individuals, though. All of these people were part of a grand but ill-fated experiment in public policy. The Telecom Act of 1996 sought to end the Bells' 100-year-old domination of the local phone market. It was a well-intentioned but misguided scheme -- one that was dealt a severe blow on June 9, when the U.S. Solicitor General declined to ask the Supreme Court to hear a case that could have forced the Bells to continue leasing parts of their networks to rivals at reduced rates.
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WiMAX Drawing A Crowd
Credit: Paula Bernier
Broadband wireless — WiMAX in particular — is gaining great new momentum on numerous fronts. There’s just one catch: WiMAX equipment is not yet available.
But that hasn’t stopped major service providers like BT, France Telecom and Qwest Communications International Inc. from throwing their considerable weight behind the WiMAX Forum and pledging their allegiance to its standardized vision of broadband wireless. Even broadband wireless vendor Navini Networks Inc., which has been associated with the 802.20 standard led by ArrayComm and Flarion, recently joined the WiMAX Forum, noting the momentum of WiMAX. The new non-line-of-sight, point-to-multipoint broadband wireless access technology known as WiMAX has great appeal because it will be based on standard chipsets rather than the proprietary, relatively expensive chipsets required for broadband wireless today.
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Fighting crime one computer at a time.
Credit: Christopher S. Stewart
From identity theft to bogus stock sales to counterfeit prescription drugs, crime is rife on the Web. But what has become the Wild West for cybercriminals has also developed into a major business opportunity for cybersleuths.
One of the most well-known is Kroll Ontrack, a technology services provider set up in 1985 by Kroll, an international security company based in New York. Others include ICG in Princeton, N.J.; Decision Strategies in Falls Church, Va.; and Cyveillance in Arlington, Va., all started in 1997.
"As more and more crime is committed on the Internet, there will be growth of these services," said Rich Mogull, research director of information security and risk at Gartner, a technology-market research firm in Stamford, Conn.
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