Wireless industry analysts predict the 802.11 standard will become an extension of fixed networks rather than a competitor to the broadband third-generation (3G) networks that will be switched on later this year.
The 802.11 standard allows wireless connections of about 11 megabits per second and up, via a hub and wireless receivers that connect to personal computers or mobile devices. Existing mobile phone networks in Hong Kong allow data rates of up to about 40 or 50 kilobits per second, while 3G networks are expected to be much faster.
In Hong Kong, 802.11 is being used in about 100 'hotspots' operated by Pacific Century CyberWorks, while some hotels, including the Excelsior and the Rosedale in Causeway Bay, have begun installing wireless broadband networks. There are also more than 200 hubs in use as part of the backbone for Hong Kong Broadband, the Internet provider owned by City Telecom.
Speakers at the Wireless World conference in Hong Kong this week said the technology would only gain in popularity as more home electronics makers integrated 802.11 receivers in their products and offices installed wireless networks. But the technology can only be used where the hubs have been installed, while the range is limited to several hundred feet.
That need for hubs means that coverage will always be limited. 'Our model is completely location-based. It should be fixed with limited mobility,' said Francis Wong Yick-man, chief executive of Infobiz, whose Easylan unit is targeting hotels with a combination of fixed and wireless services. The 900-room Excelsior switched on its Easylan network in early June, with wireline Ethernet connections in the rooms and 802.11b hubs in areas such as restaurants, lounges and business centre.
Mr Wong said he did not see 802.11 competing with 3G mobile networks. 'People try to draw comparisons, but basically I see nothing in common. One is mobile, one is fixed. One is voice, one is data. My view is for the time being wireless LAN [local area network] and mobile don't go together,' he said.
Although some disagreed, the conclusion from the Wirless World podium was that 802.11 posed little threat to 3G mobile carriers. 'It is a substitute for fixed because it cannot be moved,' said Xu Yan, a Hong Kong University of Science and Technology assistant professor and visiting International Telecommunications Union researcher.