WiFi — Update No. 4

I have been getting a lot of questions about Cometa Networks and this update will provide some thoughts about last weeks announcement but I would like to first make some reflections to put things in context. The continued growth of WiFi seems so assured to me and I believe it will revolutionize the world much as the web has. WiFi reminds me of 1993. The Internet had already been around for a long time. It was the web that made the Internet vastly more useful, just like the spreadsheet made the PC vastly more useful.

Cometa will make WiFi more useful, leverage the individual strengths of the founding companies, and bring them good returns.  For AT&T it will increase traffic on their wired infrastructure. Cometa will make use of the vast AT&T IP network and fiber capabilities for the back-haul portion of the Cometa service, and of AT&T’s sophisticated network management capabilities. For Intel it will mean more opportunity for chips — WiFi chips that they plan to put in everything possible. Their new Banias microprocessor archi8tecture is going to support not only today’s WiFi (802.11b) but also the much faster 802.11a in one package. The new chips will also use less power, generate less heat, and will simplify many of the steps needed to connect wirelessly and to move between various types of WiFi networks. (read more)