30-06-2012, 04:49 PM
Wireless Internet access
[attachment=26356]
Introduction
The two most important phenomena impacting telecommunications over the past decade have
been the explosive parallel growth of the Internet and mobile telephone services. The Internet
$An earlier version of this paper was presented at the symposium ‘‘Competition in Wireless: Spectrum, Service, and
Technology Wars’’ that was held at the University of Florida on February 19–20, 2002 cosponsored by the Global
Communications Consortium at the London Business School and the University of Florida’s Public Utility Research
Center, Center for International Business Education and Research, and Public Policy Research Center.
Some background on WiFi and 3G
In this section, we provide a brief overview of the two technologies to help orient the reader. We
will discuss each of the technologies in turn.
3G is a technology for mobile service providers. Mobile services are provided by service
providers that own and operate their own wireless networks and sell mobile services to end-users,
WiFi
WiFi is the popular name for the wireless Ethernet 802.11b standard for WLANs. Wireline
local area networks (LANs) emerged in the early 1980s as a way to allow collections of PCs,
terminals, and other distributed computing devices to share resources and peripherals such as
printers, access servers, or shared storage devices. One of the most popular LAN technologies was
Ethernet. Over the years, the IEEE has approved a succession of Ethernet standards to support
higher capacity LANs over a diverse array of media. The 802.11x family of Ethernet standards are
for wireless LANs.
How are WiFi and 3G same
From the preceding discussion, it might appear that 3G and WiFi address completely different
user needs in quite distinct, non-overlapping markets. While this was certainly more true about
earlier generations of mobile services when compared with wired LANs or earlier versions of
WLANs, it is increasingly not the case. The end-user does not care what technology is used to
support his service. What matters is that both of these technologies are providing platforms for
wireless access to the Internet and other communication services.
Some implications for industry structure and public policy
In this section we consider some of the implications that emerge from the preceding analysis, as
well as offer some speculations on the possible implications for industry structure, competition,
and public policy.
[attachment=26356]
Introduction
The two most important phenomena impacting telecommunications over the past decade have
been the explosive parallel growth of the Internet and mobile telephone services. The Internet
$An earlier version of this paper was presented at the symposium ‘‘Competition in Wireless: Spectrum, Service, and
Technology Wars’’ that was held at the University of Florida on February 19–20, 2002 cosponsored by the Global
Communications Consortium at the London Business School and the University of Florida’s Public Utility Research
Center, Center for International Business Education and Research, and Public Policy Research Center.
Some background on WiFi and 3G
In this section, we provide a brief overview of the two technologies to help orient the reader. We
will discuss each of the technologies in turn.
3G is a technology for mobile service providers. Mobile services are provided by service
providers that own and operate their own wireless networks and sell mobile services to end-users,
WiFi
WiFi is the popular name for the wireless Ethernet 802.11b standard for WLANs. Wireline
local area networks (LANs) emerged in the early 1980s as a way to allow collections of PCs,
terminals, and other distributed computing devices to share resources and peripherals such as
printers, access servers, or shared storage devices. One of the most popular LAN technologies was
Ethernet. Over the years, the IEEE has approved a succession of Ethernet standards to support
higher capacity LANs over a diverse array of media. The 802.11x family of Ethernet standards are
for wireless LANs.
How are WiFi and 3G same
From the preceding discussion, it might appear that 3G and WiFi address completely different
user needs in quite distinct, non-overlapping markets. While this was certainly more true about
earlier generations of mobile services when compared with wired LANs or earlier versions of
WLANs, it is increasingly not the case. The end-user does not care what technology is used to
support his service. What matters is that both of these technologies are providing platforms for
wireless access to the Internet and other communication services.
Some implications for industry structure and public policy
In this section we consider some of the implications that emerge from the preceding analysis, as
well as offer some speculations on the possible implications for industry structure, competition,
and public policy.