Time to cut the cables

Connecting to the internet on your mobile phone is no longer the sensation it once was. In fact, the speed with which clients can access the internet on their phones usually falls well below their expectations. The speed of data transmission using traditional GSM technology clocks in at below a measly 10 Kbps (kilobits per second) while GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) can reach as fast as 64 Kbps, which is around the same as the dial-up modems.

UMTS technology, which is currently being introduced in Poland's largest cities, might be a breakthrough for the mobile phone operators as far as internet access is concerned. With UMTS, the data transmission speed can soar to as much as 2 Mbps (Megabits per second) near transmission centers, 384 Kbps in an urban environment and 144 Kbps in more remote areas. These speeds make it possible to host videoconferences, browse photos, watch high-quality movies and download music.  

Hot spots

Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) technology provides an internet connection with a speed of around 10 Mbps. However, access to the internet is only possible within a certain area around the Wi-Fi antenna, called a hot spot. All one needs is a palmtop or a laptop computer with an adequate card. Worldwide, the technology is exploding: There are over 20,000 hot spots in the US. Even in relatively low-tech Poland, the number of hot spots is estimated at over 500. However, due to the fact that the transmission range is very limited (usually around 100 to 300 meters from the antenna), hot spots were originally established in places frequently visited by businesspeople, such as hotels and airports. Lately, companies are directing their attention more towards mass users, with hot spots springing up in restaurants, shopping malls and city centers.

For example, the old town squares in Warsaw and Kraków are now both Wi-Fi friendly. There are even hot spots on the summit of Kasprowy Wierch in the Tatra mountains as well as in the Wieliczka Salt Mine, which probably makes it the deepest hot spot in the world. Furthermore, more and more companies are installing wireless networks in their buildings so that employees can access their mail and corporate information from anywhere in the office.

Wireless fixed-line

But it is not only surfing the internet that lends itself to wireless technologies. Mobile telephony is experiencing rapid development and according to Martin Garner, the director of the wireless intelligence department at consulting company Ovum, in a few years' time the growth rate will slow down due to market congestion and technological limits for voice services. "Mobile broadband access will be the next phase of market development," Garner says.

Product, management and development director at Netia, Maciej Kocieński agrees that broadband access, especially VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a logical solution to mobile market congestion. "We can expect the convergence of services: using a mobile phone we will be automatically switched to a fixed line when we will find ourselves within its range," Kocieński said. He added that Hewlett Packard will introduce its Ipack device in January 2006, which will automatically convert a phone's connectivity in specific places.