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jim_duffy
Managing Editor

This Week in Wireless

Opinion
Apr 02, 20042 mins
Cellular NetworksEnterprise Applications

Projects, issues dominate week of CTIA Wireless show

Lucent targets wireless on trains, buses and cars; Intel and Alcatel collaborate on WiMax; and industry leaders disagree about consolidation.

Lucent is developing a product that would provide users with wireless Internet access on trains, buses and automobiles. Lucent is working with Vancouver-based In Motion Technology and Top Global in Beijing to develop a product that links 3G mobile networks and Wi-Fi technologies. Called Wi-Fi on the Move, the product would augment Lucent’s EV-DO 3G wireless technology, which provides high-speed capabilities of about 300K to 500K bit/sec. Wi-Fi on the move would use EV-DO networks to provide backhaul for Wi-Fi access points. Lucent just received $525 million from Verizon Wireless to deploy its EV-DO network in major cities in the U.S. (Read the story)

Intel and Alcatel are collaborating on WiMax-based products to debut in the second half of 2005.Read the story)

WiMax is a metropolitan-area networking technology based on the IEEE 802.16 standard that operates over tens of kilometers and could provide an alternative last-mile connection for homes and businesses, or bring fixed wireless broadband to areas that lack landlines. Intel will work with Alcatel on the definition, standardization, development, integration and marketing of WiMax “end-to-end” products and systems. (

Heads of six large U.S. mobile operators disagreed about industry consolidation, but slammed regulation and taxation by the states in a keynote panel at last week’s CTIA Wireless trade show in Atlanta. The panel, which included Nextel President and CEO Tim Donahue, Alltel President and CEO Scott Ford, Sprint President and COO Len Lauer, Cingular Wireless President and CEO Stan Sigman, T-Mobile USA Chairman John Stanton and Verizon Wireless President and CEO Denny Strigl, found agreement on most issues. Consolidation gives operators more muscle to better serve subscribers, said Sigman, whose company last month agreed to acquire AT&T Wireless Services for about $41 billion. (Read the story)

jim_duffy
Managing Editor

Jim Duffy has been covering technology for over 28 years, 23 at Network World. He covers enterprise networking infrastructure, including routers and switches. He also writes The Cisco Connection blog and can be reached on Twitter @Jim_Duffy and at jduffy@nww.com.Google+

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