| IT managers have had little reason to take wireless connectivity for remote laptop users seriously. Despite the attraction of connecting mobile workers to corporate applications, roadblocks such as bandwidth limitations, service stability and other pitfalls have kept interest in wide-area wireless lukewarm.
Sprint wants to change that. Its enhanced wireless data services, which makes its debut next month, will offer enterprise users wireless laptop access at greatly increased download speeds compared with the carrier’s current service. Users also will be able to make calls on their cell phones and dial in with their laptops simultaneously, using an optional laptop radio modem.
The service will give users performance comparable to 56 Kbps modems, Sprint says. While small providers like Metricom are rolling out 128 Kbps service in some metropolitan markets, analysts say Sprint is ahead of Verizon and AT&T in offering nationwide services comparable to 56 Kbps.
“They’re going to go after business pretty heavily,” said Rob Enderle, a Giga Information Group. analyst. “Expect to see broad-based, bundled deals — long distance, cellular, back-end infrastructure.”. |
