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Worldwide Wireless News |
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| Business Internet Users Go Wireless |
By Jennifer LeClaire February 27, 2007 10:20AM |
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While the new Pew study indicates that Wi-Fi use is on the rise, many large corporations still won't allow Wi-Fi networks due to perceptions that they are not as secure as broadband. "Many I.T. departments have done everything they can to block the deployment of Wi-Fi," said Allyn Hall, director of the wireless practice at market research firm In-Stat. |
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According to a new Pew Internet & American Life Project study, one-third of Internet users have used a wireless
connection around the house, at their workplace, or some place else. Analysts expect that group to grow in Corporate America in the coming years as Wi-Fi security gets stronger and coverage range improves.
Users who access Internet-based e-mail and search the Web from their BlackBerries or other mobile PDAs were among those who responded to the study. Specifically, 13 percent of them said they used a PDA to connect to the Internet wirelessly. What's more, 28 percent of cell phone users have used cellular networks to connect at work and 38 percent have used Web-enabled PDAs to access the Internet or check e-mail at work.
While the study suggests that more users are accessing wireless networks at their place of business, the question is which technology -- cellular or Wi-Fi -- will dominate the corporate landscape.
Case for Cellular
Allyn Hall, director of the wireless practice at market research firm In-Stat, said many large corporations won't allow Wi-Fi networks due to perceptions that the networks are not as secure as broadband. "Many I.T. departments have done everything they can to block the deployment of Wi-Fi," he explained. "That said, many of the security issues have been addressed with new standards and log-on procedures."
Hall said he sees Wi-Fi as a temporary technology and is betting that cellular networks will win favor with I.T. administrators because cellular offers a wider coverage range. I.T. admins, he added, also take issue with the rate charges for Wi-Fi when traveling corporate users access the Internet from their laptop in various locations, such as in hotel rooms. Cellular carriers offer fixed-rate plans.
"If there is going to be a competitor to cellular, it's WiMax not Wi-Fi," said Hall. "WiMax offers a wider range and high-speed data, but the cellular operators are not just going to sit around and wait until a competitor builds out a WiMax system and takes away their business. They are deploying high-speed access in rural areas."
Case for Wi-Fi
Mike Disabato, a senior wireless analyst at The Burton Group, offered a different take. "Companies that don't have strict security policies against it are starting to implement more and more Wi-Fi because their internal customers want it," he said.
I.T. administrators also look to Wi-Fi in greenfield situations. Companies that are leasing temporary office space, he said, can benefit by wireless-enabling a building rather than running cable and having to pull it out later. Future generations of the Wi-Fi standard will make the technology even more attractive, he predicted.
"With 802.11g, a lot of companies are seeing the benefit of Wi-Fi," Disabato said. "When the 802.11n standard is approved, signed, and baked in silicon forever then we will see more of this in corporations because the range and usability will go up."
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1999-2007,