I have seen a number of WiFi phone deployments in corporate environments -
nothing extremely large, mind you. However, the emphasis here is on
corporate environment. This system is as yet not able to be handled in a
large-scale cell-phone environment, though movement between cells does seem
to be possible (anyone have any more detailed information on how Cisco
handles this ?).
The whole thing reminds me of a micro-cell system that was launched by
Deutsche Telekom oodles of years ago (what was it, 15 years ?) with
cell-sizes of 100 m to 300 m, line-of-sight transmission only and the
antennas and base stations incorporated as the top of public telephone boxes
in the street. No one bought the system because you could not walk between
the cells and there was no discernible (price or other) advantage even then
to the bulky first-generation GSM phones.
Nevertheless, there is something to be said of a WiFi phone in combination
with a GSM or 3G phone. I wonder when such a system will be available. It
would be really interesting when the new all-IP networks are deployed - my
guess, the first deployment will be quite a few years out (though I hear
rumours about an all-IP network layered over a 3G transmission
infrastructure planned for the not-too-distant future in an Asian country
...).
Marc
> -----Original Message-----
> From: James John McGuire
> Sent: Monday, February 16, 2004 6:46 PM
> To: keitai-l@appelsiini.net
> Subject: (keitai-l) Article: Wi-Fi Could Make Cellphones Obsolete
>
> Interesting perspective. Curious as to people's opinions
>
> http://www.netstumbler.com/article.php?sid=1116&mode=thread&order=0&thold=
> 0
>
> Some interesting quotes:
>
> "Wi-Fi can be used to route calls over the Internet typically at much
> higher
> speeds than traditional dial-up connections. "
>
> "Cisco Systems, Inc., one of the nation's largest telecommunications
> equipment providers, has equipped 1,000 corporate customers with Wi-Fi
> phones since last summer. The company says its Wi-Fi phones are replacing
> about 6,000 traditional phones each day."
>
> James
Received on Mon Feb 16 13:15:15 2004