 Wireless in the EnterpriseNetwork World's Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter, 07/30/07New models for mobile WANs?By Joanie WexlerA truism often muttered by grizzled networking veterans is that the value of a network increases proportionately to the breadth of its reach. This axiom has always represented a bit of a Catch-22, particularly in mobile WANs. If coverage represents the primary yardstick of a network’s value, why do multiple competitive mobile operators build islands of redundant networks in predominantly the same places? The reason is that it’s the metro areas where the carrier money is to be made. And for the past 15 years, competition has been about basic connectivity and pricing plans.
However, Sprint Nextel has the opportunity to improve the situation. So do bidders in the upcoming 700MHz auctions. This new generation of networks could become standards-based, far-reaching mobile foundations that function as a service delivery platform, upon which innovators compete to deliver innovative application services. For its part, Sprint has made important strides toward building a mobile WiMAX ecosystem. It recently announced plans to interconnect its mobile WiMAX infrastructure with Clearwire’s to collectively cover a U.S. population of about 300 million. The two companies have said that they will also work jointly on WiMAX-based application services. Sprint has also partnered with Google to offer search, location services, social networking, e-mail, chat, and other application services on the WiMAX network. And the carrier has said it will provide access to anyone’s application services on its WiMAX network (unlike today’s closed cellular models). These latest developments appear to be a strong step toward correcting what, IMHO, went wrong in the cellular industry in the mid-90s: using and developing two incompatible wireless protocols, splintering coverage and interoperability. In what sounds like is shaping up to be an open-access model, Sprint and Clearwire will still have to work out how to control bandwidth for QoS. Perhaps they will leverage intelligent bandwidth management capabilities long used by enterprises. With deep packet inspection (DPI)-capable traffic shapers, operators can apportion capacity to specific applications and protocols on a per-subscriber basis so that users get what they pay for. Now, DPI discussions teeter on the controversial topic of 'Net neutrality. Suffice to say that using network intelligence to enforce service-level agreements and efficiently manage capacity should be a no-brainer for any network operator. Misuse of DPI to unfairly control network use to benefit a few wealthy content providers is fodder for another discussion.
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| Contact the author: Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in California's Silicon Valley who has spent most of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future article topics. Reach her at joanie@jwexler.com. ARCHIVEArchive of the Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter. BONUS FEATUREIT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESTo subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: security.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007 |
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