RoW Short Takes

HP Canada lands wireless LAN deal with PearsonHP Canada has secured a deal with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) that will see the IT services and personal computing giant deploy a wireless local area network (LAN) covering the entire campus and surrounding area of Pearson International Airport. The agreement was announced at the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecom World 2003 conference last week in Geneva, Switzerland. Ken Price, head of the personal communications group at HP Canada, told Report on Wireless in a briefing prior to the announcement that Pearson is doing this for two reasons. "One is for a process improvement in terms of the core functionality they need to deliver as an airport, baggage handling and reconciliation and so forth. And then also, that wireless infrastructure becomes an opportunity as access to public services, hotspot kind of services," he explains. Victor Garcia, managing principal, mobility program office for HP Services Canada, continued, "Imagine having wireless check-in kiosks that you can move around depending on how a particular flight or a series of events happen at an airport. Imagine being able to go in the belly of an aircraft and finding a piece of luggage using a wireless scanner that talks to the baggage reconciliation system." HP has partnered with several firms for the design and deployment of the wireless LAN, believed to be the largest at an airport in North America. The company is working with Bluesocket Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Packeteer Inc., Black and McDonald Ltd., Concourse Communications Group and InteQ Corp. The implementation of wireless LAN technology at an airport could also reduce the amount of time an aircraft is parked at the gate. Garcia says that Southwest Airlines wants to decrease that time from 15 to 10 minutes and this will save the company US$25,000 per aircraft per stop at the gate. The GTAA deal was only one of several announcements HP made at Telecom World 2003 where the company unveiled several new products and services targeting the enterprise sector. CWTA questions research in telematics discussionThe Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) has raised concerns about research quoted by Transport Canada in its discussion paper on potential solutions aimed at reducing driver distraction stemming from in-vehicle telematics devices. The CWTA commends the department for undertaking research in this area, but is critical of its 2001 study, The effect of cognitive distraction on drivers’ visual behaviour and vehicle control. "While we recognize that Transport Canada has the mandate under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of overseeing telematics devices installed by vehicle manufacturers as original equipment, we fail to understand why significant financial and human resources were invested by the department in completing research on a specific driver distraction that is not part of the department’s mandate or realm of responsibility," writes the CWTA in its submission. "The CWTA would suggest that a more tailored study that would have looked at the effects on in-vehicle equipment currently being used in vehicles would have likely better served the department and, we might add, the present consultation process," reads the CWTA’s response. This is only one aspect of the CWTA’s criticisms of Transport Canada’s consultation. You can find the wireless lobby’s full response on its web site. Telus Mobility takes Mike network nationalTelus Mobility has expanded direct connect services of its Mike network nationally following the lead of Nextel Communications in the United States. Users in Vancouver can now connect to users on the other side of the country with the push of a button. The service was previously only available on a regional basis. Telus Mobility has also announced that it is offering four new Mike phones with integrated GPS functionality. The handsets are being provided by Motorola Inc. Whistler Cable lights up entire resort townWhistler Cable Television Ltd. has announced that its Whooshnet Wireless Internet service will be available throughout the entire resort community next month. Report on Wireless earlier reported that the community-wide service was soon going live (RoW, Oct. 7/03). The service will be available beginning on November 1 and will be priced at approximately $10/day. Spend money on research, say experts from MaritzTelecom experts from Maritz Canada are saying that telecom service providers, including wireless operators, shouldn’t spend their money on mass marketing and should instead focus on knowing their markets. "For the same amount of money a wireless provider spends on mass marketing, it could spread out its capital on targeted research and loyalty programs tailored to different customer groups," Maritz Canada CEO Bob McDonald said in a news release. "Maybe a business person, for example, would keep using the same cell phone if he received air miles or points for retail purchases at high-end airport retailers." AirIQ sells telematics products to Ashley DistributionAshley Distribution Services Ltd. has selected AirIQ’s telematics products and services to manage and protect its transport trailers. The deal is valued at US$1.54 million. In other AirIQ news, the company has launched a suite of satellite-based telematics services. The new services will complement the company’s existing array of terrestrial-based telematics offerings. AirIQ made the announcement at the 2003 American Trucking Association Management Conference & Exhibition in San Antonio TX. AirIQ’s satellite services are made available through an agreement with Dulles VA-based Orbcomm LLC. PointShot scores Wi-Fi deal with AmtrakOttawa-based PointShot Wireless has scored a deal to provide Wi-Fi on Amtrak’s capitol corridor intercity train service. The three-month trial will be available to passengers traveling between the Sierra Foothills, Sacramento, Oakland/San Francisco and San Jose in California. WebTech introduces new fleet tracking serviceWebTech Wireless has introduced a new wireless service aimed at helping the trucking and fleet markets improve productivity and profitability. Trucking customers will now have access to a suite of new services, including automated driver logs, automated fuel tax reporting, driver ID authentication and driver status reporting. Customers will also get access to a new family of data terminals, dubbed the MDT2000. MCC completes major reorg with investment groupsMobile Computing Corp. (MCC) has completed a significant restructuring with The VenGrowth Investment Fund Inc., The VenGrowth II Investment Fund Inc. and NBC Canada West Capital Inc. Under the agreement, MCC Technologies Corp., an affiliate of VenGrowth, has acquired substantially all of the assets of MCC in exchange for the cancellation of principal, accrued and unpaid interest amounting to $7 million. Contec enhances Hornet Contec Innovations has announced upgrades to its flagship offering, the Hornet mobile applications platform. Hornet Sandbox allows development to take place in the same application environment that hosts current mobile data services, but reduces the risk of application interference. Agilent offers system-level testing services for CadenceAgilent Technologies Inc. has introduced RF Design Environment test benches that offer system-level wireless signal sources and standards measurements from Cadence Design System’s design platform. This product allows system developers to set test benches early in the development cycle as opposed to previous methods where system-level verification was conducted late in the development cycle. fSONA releases new productfSONA Communications has launched the entire line of SONAbeam E Series products. The official launch was conducted at the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecom World 2003 conference.

RoW Short Takes

Broadcast | October 21, 2003

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