A Wireless Leap Year

You have to hand it to the wireless industry: In spite of everything — economic turmoil, doubts about the overall health of telecom, nagging pessimism about the need for and opportunity for various technology formats — the wireless sector still manages to keep moving forward, keep finding and exploiting the next niche, and keep proving over and over that it truly represents the competitive ideal.

Case in point is this issue's cover story, which profiles wireless ISP Aiirnet Wireless and highlights the newest competitive opportunity for Wi-Fi and for WISPs in general. As many industry watchers (and… ahem… industry media types) continue to pooh-pooh the commercial opportunity for Wi-Fi, Aiirnet is moving forward with an aggressive plan to turn metropolitan regions into Wi-Fi hot zones that can serve (and generate revenue from) miles and miles worth of buildings, businesses and office parks. As larger carriers (both wireless and wireline) downplay the importance of Wi-Fi in their broader broadband strategies, Aiirnet is making the technology the nucleus of its plan.

And as Chief Correspondent Dan O'Shea points out in his profile of Aiirnet, which begins on page 24, the emergence of companies like Aiirnet represents yet another competitive uprising from the wireless realm: the rise of the WISPs, the newest competitive sector to challenge the status quo. It also highlights yet another technological innovation to come out of the wireless sector: mesh technology, which Aiirnet is using to boost the performance of Wi-Fi and blow perceptions about the technology's enterprise limitations and commercial feasibility out of the water.

This issue of Wireless Review features plenty of other examples of how wireless innovators are breaking down artificial barriers and preconceptions. On page 18, the aforementioned Dan O'Shea goes inside the mind of Craig Hagopian, chief marketing officer of Axesstel, to find out how he intends to conquer the supercordless stigma and penetrate the residential voice market with a hybrid wireline/wireless solution. On page 20, Staff Writer Kevin Fitchard looks at how Brian Marshall is banking on his past U.K. successes to help him stimulate the fledgling U.S. wireless data consulting efforts of AMS. And on this issue's back page, former NFL wide receiver and U.S. Congressman and current wireless industry quarterback Steve Largent, the new president and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, explains how his new regime will tackle the industry's most important issues.

Finally, I'd like to direct you to the beefed-up wireless content cache we're creating at WirelessReview.com (see page 5 for details). Under the direction of Web Editor Jason Ankeny, we've bolstered not only the online accompaniments to our print articles, but also added Web-unique content that changes on a daily and weekly basis.

Welcome to a new year of wireless ascendancy — one that promises to be as exciting, engaging and innovative as ever.