agreements

Municipal WiFi in trouble

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 06:59:57 -0400

After beginning with great excitement and promise, municipal WiFi is hitting some very public snags. The most visible snarl is in San Francisco, where politicians are trying to change the basic agreements with Google and Earthlink that would govern the city's network rollout. In general, it seems that a combination of tight municipal funds and nervous telcoms is putting the brakes on city-wide wireless deployments in city after city. Both AT&T and Earthlink are pulling back on existing contracts and are not signing new deals. What's the key to getting new projects off the ground? Start with a hefty financial commitment from the city, and you're heading in the right direction.

For more on the slowdown in municipal WiFi:
- read the news analysis at CIO-Today

Small new AT&T wireless cards

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:01:37 -0400

Options are increasing for mobile users who don't want to depend on finding a WiFi hot spot to reach the Internet from the road. AT&T has announced a pair of HSDPA-capable cards, one for ExpressCard and the other for USB. Each is capable of high-speed wireless connectivity, and each will also work with an EDGE network if HSDPA isn't available. Need to head out of the U.S.? AT&T has roaming agreements in 125 countries where the Option GT Max 3.6 Express (ExpressCard) and Sierra Wireless AirCard 875U (USB) will work.

For more on the new AT&T Cards:
- Get the details at eWeek

Nokia and Qualcomm at deadline

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:01:38 -0400

Nokia and Qualcomm each own patents. Each uses technology covered by the other's patents. On April 8, parts of the agreements that governed their technology sharing expire. While the two companies have been negotiating extensions of the agreements, the discussions haven't always been perfectly amicable, as Qualcomm has filed for arbitration on payments that Nokia has made for technology--payments that Qualcomm says are inadequate. Why should customers care about the agreements? Because the Qualcomm patents cover wideband CDMA--a market that Nokia has seemed reluctant to enter. Big-company contracts have a significant effect on what customers can buy--a critical issue in a market where handset functions are expanding rapidly.

For more on the negotiations:
- Read the complete article at CIO-Today.com

Expanded services for road warriors

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 20:01:36 -0400

Getting connected at the airport will be a bit easier for travelers coming and going from 36 airports thanks to Boingo Wireless' new roaming agreements from Albany, New York, to Chicago and down to Florida's Miami International. The hotspot vendor, which now boasts 169 public WiFi networks, has also boosted international remote hotspots in six European airports, all of which is good news for today's corporate road warriors. Article

PLUS: Verizon pushes out airport wireless services, too. Article