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IBM, AT&T and Intel Plan National Wireless ISP

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the wireless-topic-coming-soon dept.

dailywireless writes "Cometa Networks (formerly The Rainbow Project), a joint venture by IBM, Intel and AT&T, plans to merge Wi-Fi and cellular networks. 'Cometa's vision and plan for this is to offer a single sign-on, single authentication, seamless-roaming nationwide network,' said Michael Mass, vice president of marketing for the Communications Sector at IBM. 802 Plant reports 'AT&T will provide the network infrastructure and management, IBM the wireless installation and back-office system, and Intel the Banias processor. The company plans to have ubiquitous coverage - no further away than 5 minutes walk in an urban area or 5 minutes drive in a rural area - by 2004. which will require the deployment of more than 20,000 hotspot access sites across the U.S.' What fate awaits "free" networks like NYC Wireless, Seattle Wireless or Portland's PersonalTelco? Will AT&T use CoMeta's blanket coverage, with 20,000 "hotspots", to crush the "free" rebellion like a bug?"

3 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. Almost as good as the rest of the world by Smallpond · · Score: 5, Informative

    I just got mail from a friend in Taiwan who says:
    "you know, everyone has a cell phone here, it is so nice to use those GSM phone compare to US, you can always switch to a different phone company by plug in a different smart card on the phone"

    Maybe the US doesn't need a single giant wireless monopoly?

    1. Re:Almost as good as the rest of the world by ShavenYak · · Score: 4, Informative

      You maight want to tell your friend that there are GSM phones in the US as well. T-Mobile (formerly Voicestream (formerly Powertel)) and Cingular are both GSM, and I think there are some smaller carriers as well.

      --

      Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
  2. It's unregulated. Do whatever you want. by xtal · · Score: 4, Informative

    The band isn't regulated, so you can do what you want. They have to accept interference from your 2.4Ghz devices.. soo.. read between the lines if you're spiteful.

    If widespread 802.11 is what it takes to get reliable, IP-based wireless everywhere, then so be it. The power is in the hands of consumers now to do it themselves.. and yes, I've been to some wireless presentations where industry experts have said 802.11 based cell phones are not out of the realm of possibility,expected and planned for. The only reason they don't exist now is the manufacturers don't want to piss off the people who got hosed by the joke that is 3G.

    Which just opens up an opportunity for someone else.

    --
    ..don't panic