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Mobile phone operators are moving into WLAN hot-spots

WiFi hot-spots "are definitely a threat to third generation phone networks" a panel of experts almost agreed at Intel's developer Forum. As a result, phone operators are starting to get into WLANs themselves.

A recent IDC report predicted that "WLANs will impact network equipment in a similar way that mobile phones impacted the traditional voice network." A panel of wireless experts at the IDF was asked why, if this was the case, the mobile phone giants were not launching mobile hot-spot networks in parallel to their GSM networks?

The easy answer, reported the business developer of Iobox, Jan Bentele, is that they are. "We run hot-spots already, where they are legal as they are in Germany, and we are owned by Spanish mobile operator, Telefonica," Bentele said. He then went on to list several other telco-owned hot-spot startup companies, and predicted that they would use this to increase revenue by carrying wireless data for their existing customers.

According to IDC Worldwide revenue for WLAN equipment in 2001 reached $1.45 billion, up 34.2% from 2000, and is expected to grow to $3.72 billion in 2006. Pim Bilderbeek, director of IDC's European WLAN research department, was on the IDF panel, and said that he had no doubt that much of the mobile data traffic of the next five years would go over WLAN access points.

But, he said, fears that these networks would steal voice traffic seemed unfounded.

He was contradicted by the panel moderator, Guy Kewney (yes, me) who offered the opinion that VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) was already doing well in the wired PC business with companies like Net2Phone and CallServe seeing impressive commercial growth - and that it would be an obvious thing for wireless ISPs (WISPs) to offer to customers, at a fraction of the cost of mobile cellphone calls.

The panel was attended by the largest audience of the day at the IDF, said Intel's monitors. The moderator, not normally one to blow his own trumpet, has nonetheless yielded to the temptation on this occasion.

IDC's new report Worldwide Wireless LAN Equipment Market Forecast and Analysis, 2002-2006 (#26797) forecasts the worldwide wireless LAN equipment market through 2006, analyzing the key markets, industry, and technology trends that will impact the market's development throughout the forecast period. To purchase this study, call IDC's volume sales hotline at 508-988- 7988 or email ctoffel@idc.com.