WIRELESS NETWORKING: The Wave Is Here To Stay

When perusing the menu at a café or a restaurant today, don't be surprised
if you find "Wi-Fi Internet access" listed among the entrée. Wireless
local area networks (or WLANs) are changing the landscape of computer
networking.

Wireless networks are finally spilling out of their vertical-market niches-where
their payback has long been impressive and easily measured-into mainstream
business and consumer applications. Infonetics Research, for example, reports
that in 2002, about 38% of large North American companies and about 20% of
organizations in the UK and Germany had adopted WLANs. The research firm expects
these penetration numbers to double over the next four years.

On the consumer front, some other striking examples where WLAN deployments
have seen an increase include airports, hotels, coffee bars and shopping malls.
Business users can hook their laptops to wirelessly access the Internet and
their corporate networks at multi-megabit speeds at these locations.

And, if their flight is aboard a Deutsche Lufthansa Boeing aircraft, they
have Wi-Fi access at 35,000 feet, too!

WHAT'S SPURRING THIS UPTAKE

Businesses that have installed WLANs for use by knowledge workers are seeing
tangible results. In 2002, an independent study by NOP World found that WLANs
enabled end-users to stay connected for an additional 1.75 hours daily,
resulting in a productivity increase of up to 22%.

These are benefits that enterprises can't afford to ignore in today's
competitive environment. And some enterprises with vertical applications are
realizing how they can leverage their existing infrastructures for additional
uses.

Hotels currently offer WLAN connectivity as an amenity to woo guests.
Retailers that traditionally use WLANs for inventory applications are
web-casting product demonstrations and other live events in stores using
wireless connectivity. Some hospitals talk of piggybacking on the WLAN
infrastructure used by mobile doctors and nurses to provide Internet access
services to patients and visitors.

INDIA IS JETSETTING TOO

In the country, companies like Wipro, Texas Instruments, Microsoft, Le
Meridien, The Oberoi and Taj Group already boast of Wi-Fi access. Some leading
banks including HDFC, ICICI, ABN Ambro and Punjab National Bank, use Wi-Fi to
connect all their intra-city branches.

Other verticals which are jumping this bandwagon are government, ISPs, BPO,
manufacturing, media, pharma, education, airlines and logistics management
companies. The scope that solution providers have in this area is immense and
once the government de-licenses outdoor Wi-Fi usage, penetration would further
increase, with more players entering the market.  

RANAJOY PUNJA is
VP-Marketing, Cisco Systems, India & SAARC.