Business Internet Users Go Wireless
According to a new Pew Internet & American Life Project study, one-third of Internet users have used a wireless connection around the house, at their workplace, or some place else. Analysts expect that group to grow in Corporate America in the coming years as Wi-Fi security gets stronger and coverage range improves.
Users who access Internet-based e-mail and search the Web from their BlackBerries or other mobile PDAs were among those who responded to the study. Specifically, 13 percent of them said they used a PDA to connect to the Internet wirelessly. What’s more, 28 percent of cell phone users have used cellular networks to connect at work and 38 percent have used Web-enabled PDAs to access the Internet or check e-mail at work.
While the study suggests that more users are accessing wireless networks at their place of business, the question is which technology — cellular or Wi-Fi — will dominate the corporate landscape.
Case for Cellular
Allyn Hall, director of the wireless practice at market research firm In-Stat, said many large corporations won’t allow Wi-Fi networks due to perceptions that the networks are not as secure as broadband. “Many I.T. departments have done everything they can to block the deployment of Wi-Fi,” he explained. “That said, many of the security issues have been addressed with new standards and log-on procedures.”
Hall said he sees Wi-Fi as a temporary technology and is betting that cellular networks will win favor with I.T. administrators because cellular offers a wider coverage range. I.T. admins, he added, also take issue with the rate charges for Wi-Fi when traveling corporate users access the Internet from their laptop in various locations, such as in hotel rooms. Cellular carriers offer fixed-rate plans.
“If there is going to be a competitor to cellular, it’s WiMax not Wi-Fi,” said Hall. “WiMax offers a…
