Backlash, Backhaul and the Back Office

It was bound to happen sooner or later: In the midst of the seemingly boundless buildup of Wi-Fi hype, many critics are beginning to downplay — or even dismiss — the technology's potential. The common refrain of late is that there is still no practical service provider business model for Wi-Fi — there are myriad applications and ideas, but nothing cohesive that ultimately could take the technology platform from its corporate LAN beginnings to a position of public network supremacy.

That reaction isn't all that surprising, since industry history shows that most initial hype flames out eventually. More intriguing is the identity of some of the players that are reacting — including iPass, the subject of this issue's cover story.

iPass is unique because it appears to have embraced everything about Wi-Fi except the hype. A virtual network operator and provider of remote access to businesses, the company is fully capable of tapping Wi-Fi as a connectivity option for corporate customers looking to extend their VPNs to remote users. But as Dan O'Shea explores in his iPass profile (which begins on page 28), in its funding efforts — including a successful IPO earlier this year — the company refused to exploit Wi-Fi's hype, preferring to position itself as a technology-neutral entity.

The mix of pragmatism and trepidation that iPass conveyed with that decision characterizes the current ailing/healing period in the wireless industry's evolution. It acknowledges that technology marvels like Wi-Fi are critical components of long-term strategy but refuses to bank on the momentum behind any single one of them.

A similar attitude toward innovation is represented in Kevin Fitchard's look at ADC's Digivance coverage enhancement and backhaul system (page 26). The vendor is integrating free space optics technology from fSONA Communications into the traditionally fiber-based platform to make it more practical for wireless carriers extending their networks in regions where fiber is unavailable or too expensive. Like Wi-Fi, FSO has long suffered from excessive hype and a perceived lack of carrier applicability. Approaches like that of ADC and fSONA boost the odds that carriers will be receptive to the technology and find more applications for it in their networks.

This issue also includes my profile of Teresa Vega, the former Lucent Technologies executive leading Telcordia Technologies' drive into the wireless network software realm, and Vince Vittore's look at mobile game aggregator Mforma, which is helping wireless carriers harness the technological innovation of their networks for purposes of entertainment — and incremental revenue increases.

This month's stories prove that technology hype in and of itself doesn't necessarily have to inflict long-term damage. As early enthusiasm about the new “in” thing gives way to market realities, the wireless industry better understands the need for adaptation, evolution and an always forward-looking vision.