Wi-Fi PLAN BANKING ON UBIQUITY OF INTEL

Already the technology du jour, Wi-Fi is getting another boost with the formation of Cometa Networks, a venture backed by technology sluggers AT&T, Intel and IBM, along with investment concerns Apax Partners and 3i.

Cometa will wholesale wireless Internet access to carriers, ISPs and cable operators using unlicensed wireless spectrum at 20,000 hot spots in the top 50 U.S. metropolitan markets. The plan is to launch in 10 markets next year.

While IBM's back-office support and AT&T's connectivity bring credibility to the plan, Intel holds one of the key elements. The company's Banias wireless silicon will be added to portable devices, putting Wi-Fi capability in users' hands whether they want it or not.

Moreover, the company's plan doesn't require any kind of behavioral change on the part of its end users, said Ted Schell, Cometa's chairman and a general partner with Apax, during a conference call that was held last week.

Service providers want access “within a five-minutes' walk of any one of their employees in an urban setting and five-minutes' drive in a rural setting,” said Lawrence Brilliant, Cometa's CEO.

“What Intel is doing is a sea change in the way computers talk to the Internet,” Brilliant said. “All of those devices will be looking for access points to connect.”

AT&T will make sure information flows.

“It's a lot of bandwidth, but AT&T has the biggest IP network in the industry today,” said Rose Klimovich, vice president of AT&T Managed Access Services.

Because investment firms provide Cometa with financial security, the company is not having any discussions on Wall Street, said Schell, who refused to discuss the equity investment the companies have made or the potential wholesale price.