802.11 UPDATE: Patrick Ruffini has a good essay on his blog regarding the implications of 802.11b wireless networking. Perhaps one of the most intriguing possibilities of 802.11 is a project that NTT Communications is planning in Tokyo, for 802.11 service over a range of several miles:
CNN.com – NTT unit looks at high-speed wireless access – April 2, 2002 TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) — NTT Communications Corp, Japan’s largest long-distance telephone and Internet services firm, said Wednesday it was seeking government approval to begin high-speed wireless Internet access services.
Later in the article, the range of the proposed network is mentioned:
Service providers and manufacturers see wireless LAN as an ideal technology for Japan because of the high cost of connecting its congested buildings.
NTT Communications would use a different wireless LAN technology from DoCoMo’s that would allow signals to be sent and received over a much wider area, with a radius of about eight kilometers (five miles) instead of a radius of a few hundred meters.
It will be interesting to watch the range of 802.11 networks expand in size–as I’ve been saying, I think 802.11 is going to be one the technology trends in this decade.
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