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February 11, 2003

Press 1 to Pay for Wi-Fi

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Exclusive story! Excilan offers cell-phone based way to pay for hot spot service : Sean O'Mahoney, CEO of Vancouver, B.C.-based wISP Fatport alerted me to some exciting news from Excilan, a company that's building software bridges for seamless roaming among different kinds of wireless networks, including cell and Wi-Fi. Excilan is launching a system that cell operators and wISPs can sign up for that allows a user at a hot spot location to pull up a gateway page, enter their cell phone number, and receive an automated call. The call prompts the user by telling them the session fee details for their location. The user agrees by pressing a key (such as "1" in the test I ran through using a Schiphol, Amsterdam, test page), which then charges the fee to their cellular bill and authenticates the computer at the hot spot location.

O'Mahoney said that in the initial meeting with Excilan, only European cell carriers were represented, and Fatport was the only North American wISP present. (Fatport is a founding member of Pass-One, which Excilan is apparently part of as well.) But several European hot spot firms were there: Megabeam (Pan-European), Attingo (Netherlands), TLC Mobile (France); O'Mahoney said two others are also involved: Netario (UK) and WLAN AG (Germany). With the proof-of-concept rolling out as an actual service, however, it's expected that other networks and carriers will look at this as an option.

O'Mahony pointed out that this authentication system works both directions: it removes friction for hot spot operators in having users connect to their service; no credit card number is required, and the cell phone call implies another layer of security and accountability. But the other direction is that cell operators can tie into a network of how ever many wISPs sign up for the service. A cell company can essentially offer a branded (even discounted) hot spot service in this way without building any infrastructure or even modified their systems outside the Excilan billing hookup. The wISPs will offer a wholesale rate which the individual cell companies can choose to mark up however they wish. (wISPs would almost certainly offer a direct rate, as well.)

It's not convergence, but it's an interesting step on that road, by providing cell operators with a real chance to judge how frequently their users would engage in this option.

Other News

Business Week's sensible security advice: Stephen Wildstrom offers well-explained, sensible security advice for consumers and businesses, including a good explanation of WEP's weaknesses and the coming Wi-Fi Protected Access fix -- a good article to refer to those who have questions and don't want all the protocol detail.

Rant on draft 802.11g incompatibilities: A not unreasonable reasoned rant about the early release of non-interoperability-tested, non-backward-compatibility-tested 802.11g gear from many manufacturers. Guy points out quite notably that the plug-test (or unplug-fest) informal test conducted recently was under non-disclosure, so there's no good way for information to filter directly from makers to users. Expect a load of frequent firmware upgrades for g devices.

Nomadix and iPass partner: People deploying Nomadix hot spot systems can now support iPass customers. iPass is an aggregation service partnering with 200 networks for dial-up and broadband roaming worldwide. (Does that sound like an ad? It's just a succinct summary of what they do.)

You'll believe a tech writer can fly (and Wi-Fi): Pete Lewis of Fortune files from the air in a 737 configured by Boeing to show off their in-flight, high-speed Connexion service which offers wired (business/first class) and wireless (everywhere on the plane, one assumes) Internet access while flying. The service is currently only available on a single Frankfurt-D.C. Lufthansa flight, but a bigger rollout is expected. As far as in-flight technology goes, being able to charge a flat rate ($15 to $35 is expected depending on the flight's duration) coupled with a relatively simple set up (not as complicated as interactive video, that's for sure) could make this service actually profitable. I know that on a 4 to 10-hour flight, I'd happily pony up the money if I really thought I needed to work. Thirty to 60 minutes of work pays back a $15 to $35 tab depending on what's on the agenda. Continuous access at the flat rate and the relatively high speed (5 Mbps down) makes it a no-brainer for most business people--who will probably press for subscription service with discounts.

Fuel cells to power future laptops to keep Wi-Fi flowing: Intel Capital and others have invested in Neah, a company that plans to make fuel cell-based batteries with stable, less hot reactions than competitors that could have three times the longevity of today's laptop battery. My iBook's 4+ ampere hour (AH) battery, which I gather is about 50+ watt hours (WH) (watts over 12.8 volts equals amps), gives me about three to four hours of carefully husbanded use or two hours of playing a DVD with the screen brightness up. I've tested an external NCharge battery from Valence weighing just over three pounds which has 10 AH or 128 WH and costs about $300. This NCharge battery uses conventional technology; the fuel-cell battery would fit in an existing drive bay while ostensibly reducing weight as well (though that's not spelled out). [via Dana Blankenhorn]