Wi-Fi becoming application platform

Having pioneered the broad deployment of Wi-Fi hotspot, Wayport appears ready to be swamped by the flood of municipal networks and other free and ad-supported wireless access offerings. But the company is, in fact, embarking on what it says is an expanded strategy from the wireless Internet access service for which it is known.

Focusing on in-building coverage, the company is looking at industry-specific business applications that take advantage of mobile communications within a building. The best example is an agreement announced earlier this month between Wayport and Catalis, the creator of the world's first graphical patient health record. The collaboration combines Wayport's Wi-Fi technology and network in support of tablet PC devices, which are 802.11 b/g-enabled and can run the Catalis Accelerator GHR.

“Our focus now is more on strategic venues, like health care,” said Dan Lowden, vice president of business development and marketing for Wayport. “The digital health records can graphically show an injury so that a doctor walking into a patient's room can access that information and show the patient what is going on.”

The mobile digital health record allows doctors to be more efficient and make better use of the time they have with patients, he said. Prescriptions can be transmitted wirelessly to a pharmacy. The digital records can then be backed up securely and aren't as vulnerable to being destroyed as many paper records were in the aftermath of Katrina, Lowden said.

Wayport's technology is already widely deployed in hotels, and employees there can use Wi-Fi-based phone handsets for low-cost, immediate communications, he added.

As more Wi-Fi is deployed in outdoor venues, there is greater possibility for voice over IP to run over Wi-Fi networks and roam onto in-building facilities that Wayport provides.

“Venues will pay us to install the equipment and maintain the service,” Lowden said. When a customer comes into the building, a call can be moved onto the in-building Wi-Fi network, either as a free service of the building owner or for a fee, he said. Wayport already partners with major players such as AT&T and Nintendo in providing in-building service.

“We manage and monitor the networks remotely, not only so new applications can be enabled instantaneously but also to react to worms and viruses as they occur,” Lowden said. “This is only going to get faster and less expensive to deploy as time goes on.”