Embracing the Portable Internet

A new set of advanced wireless technologies now promises to bring affordable, high-speed Internet connectivity to the masses. This set of technologies, and the market opportunity they create, has been termed the “Portable Internet”, and is the subject of a new href=”http://www.itu.int”>ITU report.

Portable Internet technologies promise to cut the cords to a wire-free future in which Internet access, for both fixed locations and users on the move, is supplied over the airwaves. The technologies that make up the portable Internet operate at short, medium and long range, according to the geographical range of their radio signals. Short-range technologies, such as Bluetooth, ZigBee and RFID allow low-power connectivity within a range of 30 metres. Medium-range technologies can communicate at least 150 metres from a hotspot (e.g. Wi-Fi, or IEEE 802.11b) and up to several kilometres, depending on environmental and regulatory factors. Finally, long-range technologies such as WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) and IMT-2000 (3G) have ranges that extend up to 50 kilometres from a base station, and provide near-nationwide coverage when offered as a networked service.

The Asia-Pacific region passed the symbolic mark of one billion telecommunication users, mobile phones and fixed lines combined in October 2003. Until now, those users that wanted to have high-speed access to the Internet had to have a fixed-line connection. Before the end of this decade, another billion users of information and communication technologies (ICTs) are likely to be added to the region’s networks, but the majority of them will be connected using radiocommunications. “The fixed-line network is simply growing too slowly to meet the region’s burgeoning demand for broadband, especially in rural areas,” notes Dr Tim Kelly, Head of ITU’s Strategy and Policy Unit, which produced the report. “But today’s second-generation cellular mobile networks are not geared up for delivering high-speed Internet access.”

“Fixed-line technologies generally offer higher speeds while IMT-2000, also known as 3G mobile phone networks, offer greater mobility.

However, there is a wide gap between these two and many see this as the prime market segment for new portable Internet technologies, especially in developing countries”, says Dr Taylor Reynolds, one of the authors of the report.

While wireless local area networks (WLANs), such as those based on the IEEE’s Wi-fi standards, already help plug this gap at the local level, a more significant technological advance is on the horizon with WiMAX (more correctly IEEE 802.16a, WiMAX is short for Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access; sometimes called “Wi-fi’s big brother”). These offer connectivity of up to 54 Mbit/s over a range of up to 50 kilometres. In rural areas, and other parts of the world that have no wired network, WiMAX could be the preferred platform for offering a wide range of voice, data and broadcast entertainment services.

The report also cited the Philippines having a prime market opportunity for the portable Internet. As there is a high level of demand for telecommunication services that the fixed-line operator was unable to meet. The mobile phone growth catapulted the market directly to wireless telecommunications. The country also showed an early sign of the potential for data over mobile devices, SMS—that can be considered an early form of the portable Internet—and how it has taken the country by storm.

The portable Internet is very much of a reality today. Much of the things you can do on the Internet can actually be done on the mobilephone, at times more. This includes location based services, personalization, among others.

In the developed world, at least in urbanized areas, portable Internet technologies are likely to be complementary, rather than substitutive,for existing networks. The market is being driven by handset manufacturers keen to add ever more value to portable devices. “Imagine a device that could store all your personal information, such as ID information and entertainment, including favourite music, photosand films. Add voice and videocommunications, and location-based information, and it becomes a very powerful communications tool,” saysMs.Lara Srivastava, the lead author of the report. But this will not come without profound implications for society and lifestyles. “Ahandheld portable device on which the whereabouts of people and objects can be detected instantaneously may be intriguing, but not everyone is willing to make such compromises with their personal privacy”, added Dr Kelly.