NTT to launch wireless LAN service in Tokyo

NTT Communications plans to launch in April 2002 an Internet access service in Tokyo based on a network of wireless LAN hotspots in restaurants, hotels and other facilities.

Under the service, called Hi-Fibe, customers will pay NTT Communications a flat monthly fee for access at all participating locations. "At present, ADSL services cost between 2,000 yen and 3,000 yen ($16 to $24) per month, so we are aiming to charge between 1,000 yen and 2,000 yen for our service," said Shuji Iwai, assistant manager at NTT Communications' corporate planning office.

The move is further evidence of a growing interest by carriers and other big service providers to use 802.11-based wireless LAN technology to create wireless connections to their network services. It is possible that such wireless LAN access points would become the next generation of 'pay phones' for wireless data users.

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The trial service offers 11M bit/sec connections based on the IEEE 802.11b standard, although Iwai said the company is looking to deploy access points that also support the newer IEEE 802.11a standard. That standard provides for speeds up to 54M bit/sec in the 5-GHz frequency range.

Tests of the service have been underway in Tokyo since July this year, when a handful of fast food restaurants began offering free wireless LAN connections to customers. The number of hotspots has since been expanded and now totals 20, including additional fast food restaurants, a major hotel and several convenience stores and coffee shops.

For the commercial service, Iwai said the number of hotspots will be expanded. He said serious discussions are underway with a number of big-name retailers, although he declined to disclose their names.

At present, the test locations are served by ADSL connections, which offer access at speeds up to 8M bit/sec, although Iwai said NTT Communications is looking into connecting them with fiber-optic lines so that users can benefit from the full speed of the wireless connection.

As part of the tests, the company demonstrated over the past weekend a connection using wireless LAN and the next generation IPv6 protocol. Timed to coincide with the Net.Liferium 2001 exhibition, which was held Dec. 15 and 16 in Yokohama, a Mos Burger restaurant in downtown Tokyo was connected with the Pacifico Yokohama exhibition center.

The tests made use of a video camera-equipped notebook computer, as a video source, and a Compaq Computer iPAQ personal digital assistant running the Linux operating system, as an audio capture device and video terminal. Using the setup, which was duplicated at each end of the line, videoconferencing could take place. At the restaurant, NTT Communications installed a dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 access point to allow both current and next generation systems to run simultaneously.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.