Going Into Orbit

Wi-fi(Wireless Fidelity) is exactly what it seems. A high-speed broadband connection fed to an "access point" about as big as a cordless phone. The access point transmits signals around a range of 100 metres. All computers enabled to receive this signal will be connected to the net. A large area like a whole building or a city centre could be connected simply by positioning several access points.

Places with such wireless access are called hotspots. Manhattan is said to have around 10,000, mostly streetcorners, parks, cafes and buildings. The Everest Base Camp in the Himalayas is also one such spot (Intel calls it "the coolest hotspot"). The whole of India has around 100 hotspots, one per cent of the number South Korea has and 10 per cent of China's share. "This number has to grow," Otellini says gravely. After all, "every three seconds an access point is being sold somewhere in the world".

In India, many of the Taj group's hotels are connected through Wi-fi. Like in the US, where Starbucks coffee bars led the Wi-fi revolution, cafes like the Bangalore-based Cafe Coffee Day have jumped in to provide wireless access. Firms like Cisco, Allied Digital and Convergent Solutions too are planning to set up hotspots. The Indian government is apparently working to enable Wi-fi access at all domestic and international airports as well as select railway stations. Says Lothar Pauly, board member, Siemens Information and Communication: "In India, as in all countries, Wi-fi will be a big draw at business and community centres."

But why is the man who should be heading Intel by August 2005 so interested in Wi-fi? Because, when the new day dawns, it must come with Intel inside. Also, these are nervous times for the company. Since 2000, its earnings are down by 71 per cent and the stock price cheaper by 80 per cent. It has to catch a new wave, and is betting big on Centrino, a chipset for wireless laptops. Intel is spending some $300 million to tell everyone about it, and Wi-fi is a good way to tell the story. "Intel has hijacked the technology for its own survival," says internet and e-commerce consultant Vipul Shah.

For, though Intel wants to be synonymous with Wi-fi, the two are at the most distant relatives with very different family values. The Wi-Fi Alliance is a non-profit international organisation formed in 1999 to certify wireless products compatible with an aspect of networking termed ieee 802.11. In February 1980, ieee (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) created a committee to standardise network technologies. Every subgroup of this committee that standardises a networking aspect is given a distinct number. Among such banal numbers, 802.11 refers to Wi-fi.

"When a superpower starts talking about the next big thing, duck," says Vickram Crishna, Net Radiophony India chief. "It means some marketing guy has got hold of the concept and is trying to make it his vehicle of growth in the company. It is the job of every company to exploit new markets," he adds. Still, Crishna admits one shouldn't underestimate the potential of the new technology.

But there may also be a few technology-related glitches with Wi-fi. For one, users have to be present within the hotspot area to remain connected. So you can't work uninterrupted on your laptop while travelling in a car. Another problem is signal strength. Since Wi-fi uses a microwave radio signal to reach through walls, floors and ceilings, the obstacles can dampen the signal. It may also face an unexpected problem from Bluetooth, the technology that enables all the electronic devices in your home or office to talk to one another, since they share the same band. If Bluetooth and Wi-fi operate at the same time in the same place, they will interfere with each other's signals.

There's also the security issue as is evident from the warning in US President George Bush's recent 'Secure Cyberspace' report: "Federal departments and agencies must be especially mindful of security risks when using wireless technologies." Says Siemens' Pauly: "It can be easily eavesdropped on and, hence, corporations are sceptical about adopting it fully." Hackers hunt for open Wi-fi connections in their neighbourhoods and inform others about these vulnerable points—"wardriving" and "warchalking" in nerdspeak.

But many also believe that the perceived security risks are exaggerated. Says Dipanshu Sharma, marketing manager, Apple Computer India: "The wired Internet can also be attacked or hacked. Wi-fi, on the other hand, is vulnerable only within the hotspot area." The good news is that technologies are emerging to prevent unauthorised access. For example, Siemens is experimenting with routing Wi-fi access through mobile sim cards to provide a user identification.

Obviously, Wi-fi makes maximum sense for laptops unless lugging a desktop computer from room to room becomes a new work culture. In India, only 2 per cent of computers are laptops. And a low-end notebook is almost twice as expensive as a high-end desktop. Plus, an access point costs anywhere between Rs 7,000-30,000. The Wi-fi-enabling card for the computer will mean a bill for another Rs 5,000-6,000. "Most offices go Wi-fi not because it's cost-effective but because it's cool," says Kushal Shah of Ping Networks that has set up Wi-fi in a few offices in Mumbai.

As yet, no one is very clear about how to make money out of Wi-fi. Except to sell more laptops and personal digital assistants (pdas) piggybacking on the new connectivity or add-value to customers through wireless. A hotel can make money by charging a fee from its guests and a coffee shop can attract more customers by becoming a hotspot. Or a company may be able to increase productivity by giving Wi-fi laptops to its employees, instead of wired desktops.

Understandably, Intel would want this to change. "In a year, the whole of MG Road in Bangalore may become a hotspot," predicts Intel's South Asia director, Avtar Saini. "I see a bright future. Once a net user is mobile, companies should think of ways to make his experience meaningful. Also, in a country like India where connecting rural areas through cable is not financially viable, Wi-fi is a promising solution."

At the Taj in Mumbai, guests can be seen poring into the net at the lobby, near the swimming pool and in other places where conventionally this would not have been possible. But the real spirit of Wi-fi rests somewhere else.A few strides away from the hotel is the Gateway of India. Technically, a person with a Wi-fi-enabled laptop can sit on a parapet facing the Arabian Sea and browse, exploiting Taj's access points. But the hotel chain has not opened this free access because its Wi-fi comes at a fee for its guests. But imagine a day when the island city is connected with a series of access points, when one can sit in a cab, open the laptop and trek the net without any interruption down a 10-mile journey. Some talk of a powerful transmitter that can cover regions like a mobile phone service. Some talk of access points lining a whole city. Either way, there is excitement in the air, so to say.