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2001

VPM Meets GRIC, Again
[December 18, 2001] Business Internet users have been demanding international roaming services for years. Now some are getting wind of Wi-Fi-based broadband access abroad and they're clamoring for it.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[December 11, 2001] New Wi-Fi security enhancements abound, more and more college campuses are going wireless, and GRIC successfully completes beta testing of its Wi-Fi-based broadband wireless network.

Wireless Access News Briefs
[December 4, 2001] Another small regional company launches Wi-Fi services—this time in upstate New York. Wi-LAN Inc. has something to be happy about and BIFS Technologies picks up two new partners.

Treading Water With BeyonDSL
[November 27, 2001] Meet a wireless ISP that successfully differentiates itself—and will turn a profit without expanding its footprint in a year.

Postini Revisited
[November 20, 2001] For casual observers, Postini is a nice tonic for the otherwise fairly general dot-com doom and gloom. For ISPs, the company should be on the must-investigate list of value-added services.

iPass: Wireless Broadband Contender?
[November 13, 2001] Wireless broadband roaming services are no doubt a great thing, but they could spell disaster for some wireline Internet service providers. So what's the solution? Find a partner.

Wireless Access News Briefs
[November 6, 2001] It's a topsy-turvy world in the Wi-Fi biz. AT&T pulled the plug on its offering, but little guys keep stepping up to the plate. Meanwhile, the red ink continues to gush in the manufacturing sector.

Airing Out airBand
[October 26, 2001] The days of massive national rollouts in the fixed wireless industry are gone forever. The future belongs to cautious companies like Dallas-based airBand Communications. Who? Exactly.

LOS Today, Transition To NLOS Tomorrow
[October 16, 2001] Spike Broadband says FUD factor impeding non-line of sight technological advance is no reason to dally. Stick with existing line of sight technology and get building your wireless ISP today.

Wi-Fi News Briefs Gerry Blackwell
[October 9, 2001] Agere forms a pact with Young Design Inc. for ORiNOCO deals in Latin America and the Caribbean, Interlink Networks gets busy with its wireless security solution, and more.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[October 2, 2001] Canadian equipment vendor WaveRider picks up Illinois Electric Co-Op as a buyer, airBand debuts its wireless broadband service, and RadioLAN introduces new Ethernet Bridging lineup.

MIPPS, Inc.
[September 19, 2001] Sometimes you don't know exactly what you've got until someone comes and asks can they buy it. That may turn out to be the case for wireless ISPs have been building over the last few years.

Busting Barriers With The Brister Group
[September 13, 2001] If a non-technical insurance guy from the boonies of Canada can build his own wireless network from scratch, surely to goodness a resourceful Internet service operator could do the same?

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[August 31, 2001] WISP adopts MMDS technology through Hybrid, NextNet introduces NLOS gear for residential MMDS use, Spectrum Wireless sticks with 2.4 GHz unlicensed spectrum, and other wires untangled.

GRIC Leverages Mobility
[August 23, 2001] If roaming services for dial-up access could unlock the door to new revenue, what could wireless roaming services do for your ISP business? GRIC helps you get a grip on wireless roaming access.

Wireless in the Wild
[August 16, 2001] McGrath, Alaska, 221 miles northwest of Anchorage, 269 miles southwest of Fairbanks on the Kuskokwim River. It doesn't get much more remote than this when it comes to broadband services.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[August 9, 2001] It's easier than ever to configure Agere ORiNOCO Wi-Fi LAN clients, 3Com's new WLAN access point is fully featured, and Wayport launches a hotel-and-airport wireless national roaming plan.

Public Access Opportunity: MobileStar
[August 3, 2001] One of the most enticing market opportunities in the fixed wireless broadband space—specifically Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b space, has got to be public access. Learn why MobileStar shines at it.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[July 26, 2001] The wireless sector shows it's not immune from current economic pain, disparate market reports paints a distinctly more hopeful picture for the long-term future of broadband, and much more.

Securing 802.11b-based WISPs
[July 19, 2001] Every WISP operator with a network based on 802.11b standards—and that's quite a few by now—knows about the technology's egregious security flaws. If you don't know, you're asleep at the switch.

Wireless Freenets
[July 12, 2001] It's hard to tell whether these things are a threat or an opportunity for ISPs. Wireless community networks using inexpensive 802.11b radios and antennas are popping up all over North America.

WLAN News & Notes
[July 5, 2001] Learn about an all-wireless hotel solution, Wi-Fi roaming overseas, and how game-bound LA Lakers fans can get updated team statistics while ordering food and drinks on Compaq iPAQ Pocket PCs.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[June 28, 2001] Look on the bright side, more non-line-of-sight wireless technology, Airspan networks gets there from here, and a new 5.8 GHz U-NII point-to-point radio from troubled Adaptive Broadband.

Build, Buy or Borrow
[June 21, 2001] You don't have to build a WiPOP to build your WISP business. When you first start exploring your wireless opportunities, consider buying or borrowing, too.

GetOnTheAir Gets Around
[June 14, 2001] At the dawn of the wireless era here at ISP Planet—about 16 months ago—we profiled John Savage, who was just starting a wireless ISP. Well, GOTAir is still going strong, but it's no longer a pure-play WISP.

WI-Fi News Briefs
[June 7, 2001] MobileStar and HP have Wi-Fi-enabled notebooks to go, Compaq to use Intersil's Prism WLAN chip for its multi-port set isgetting ready to go, and IEEE 802.11b certification program is still going strong.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[June1, 2001] Wi-Fi meeting of the clans in Boston to banter about wireless services, WISPs should take note of what AT&T Wireless is doing in the wire-free realm, and Sonik goes both ways over 2.4 GHz gear.

Platinum Communications
[May 22, 2001] If the economics of fixed wireless broadband put you off the technology because you could not recoup CPE or installation costs, WaveRider has an self-install option that could change your perspective.

Betting on U-NII
[May 17, 2001] U-NII band has for the most part failed to capture the imaginations of ISPs looking for a way to break the broadband access logjam—but not DataCentric, 5.8GHz is the place they want to be.

Wireless LAN Opportunity: Welcome to WLANs
[May 15, 2001] You're a pioneer of the wireless Internet and you've got the arrows to prove it. You built your own fixed wireless network to offer customers telco-free broadband access. What do you do for an encore?

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[May 8, 2001] Not to worry, Wi-Fi future looks bright for those that remain. AIR2LAN connects wireless broadband VPN in MS, BreezeCOM and SPEEDCOM present strong dot-com results.

ASP News Briefs  
[May 4, 2001] Click-to-talk, it really works, really. VoIP clearinghouse tries to get gateways together. TV on the Web? Not just yet. Plus all the value-added information that was released too late for last month, and more.

Storage Service Provider Play  
[April 13, 2001] Is anyone out there just a plain old I-S-P anymore? Doubt it. There are so many permutations and combinations ending in SP, it's getting hard to pigeonhole Internet companies. Drat.

ISP-Planet Wireless News Briefs—April 10, 2001
• Wireless broadband set to soar
• Early unlicensed lead ... But troubles ahead?
• Line of Sight—who needs it?

ASP News Briefs—April 6, 2001 
FutureLink forecasts a cloudy future, IDC is optimistic about the Storage Service Provider (SSP) market—if the idea can be explained better than the ASP idea was, and three ASPs become one in Deerfield, Illinois.

Part 2: A Tenured Expert
[March 13, 2001] In the first part of our series we took a brief look at the groundwork for starting a fixed wireless ISP. This time out, we get down to the nitty-gritty and ask some tough questions. P1: A Tenured Expert

CMeRun ... Down 
[March 9, 2001] It's always useful to understand why seemingly good ideas didn't work. In fact, online postmortems may be more valuable to your ISP, than dot-com success stories.

ISP Planet Wireless News Briefs - March 7, 2001
• BIFS is Back
• BreezeCOM on a Roll
• Fuzion Enters Canada

A Tenured Expert
[February 23, 2001] If you're thinking about adding fixed wireless access as part of your ISPs offerings—get ready to roll up your sleeves, dirty your hands, and most of all—learn from your mistakes.

The Tantalizing MTU Market 
[February 9, 2001] Selling high-speed services to people in public places is different than connecting individual users—all you need is access to the habitat and the right partner.

ISP-Planet Wireless News Briefs - February 1, 2001
• New Faces
• We Like This Business Better
• Sprint Rolling Out

ASP News Briefs - January 25, 2001 
This week's stories include how two research firms discovered the obvious about ASPs, which ASPs are reducing their workforces, and how to make the most of your intranet-building services.

Beware, Thieves! Part 2
[January 24, 2001] Here's a question wireless ISPs owners need to consider pretty seriously. Could intruders with compatible radio equipment steal bandwidth and connection time from you or your customers?

The Internet Business Services Initiative 
[January 16, 2001] A well-funded group contends that the ASP business model is obsolete as a new single-source solution appears on the horizon of the Internet service segment.

2000

Beware, Thieves!
[December 21, 2000] Procrastination is the thief of time. Airjackers that don't loot your spectrum today, may target your fixed wireless ISPs lax regard for security—tomorrow.

Free Money? Did Somebody Say Free Money? 
[December 15, 2000] Reselling hosted applications could make your ISP business a buck or two—and you don't even have to transform your operation into an ASP to reap the rewards.

Public Access Broadband
[November 28, 2000] Is it too late to get into the wireless public access game? Probably. But that shouldn't stop wired ISP owners from courting wire-free operators. After all, the only thing you have to lose is customers.

ASP News Briefs - November 24, 2000 
New resource for ASPs to help figure out what customers want. ASPire Award winners and nominees from Comdex Fall 2000, and an ASP aggregator picks up more additional software vendors.

Hope on the E-mail Front 
We introduce Postini, a suite of own-branded e-mail services for ISPs, priced on the pay-per-use ASP model.

Wireless News Briefs - November 15, 2000

The Strange Case of SWOMI
[October 26, 2000]  Word has been getting around about some very cool high-bandwidth mobile wireless technology—from a company known for a completely different line of business. It sounds awesome, but no one we could find has actually seen it demo'ed, and unanswered questions abound.

ASP News Briefs - October 23, 2000
Two partnerships, one serious question about marketing the "ASP."

Cutting the Tie that Binds
[October 20, 2000]  TeleCrossing.net is launching a hybrid satellite/fixed wireless solution that bypasses all wireline connections and should sell to consumers for about the same as basic DSL. The company is looking for ISP partners.

ASP: Illusion or Reality? 
[October 12, 2000] Are ASPs on the business community's RADAR screen, or is this term gibberish to the average IT exec? Recent market research clearly validates both points of view. What's going on here?

Grassroots Wireless Internet
[September 25, 2000]  Small/remote communities in Canada are grabbing the broadband bull by the horns—aggregating demand, applying for subsidies, and setting up their own fixed wireless networks. Should ISPs care?

Dawning of the Instant Messaging Era 
[September 15, 2000] Simple and successful, IM built with grown-up pursuits in mind is taking hold as a business tool. As packaged by one ASP, it can become a potent weapon in the ISP's business-building arsenal.

Another Kind of Unlicensed RF
[August 21, 2000]  Many companies are delivering broadband fixed wireless Internet service over the unlicensed 2.4 GHz band. Few know that another unlicensed spectrum also exists.

Beyond Internet Call Waiting 
[August 14, 2000] Many ISPs have had a measure of success offering ICW to their dial-up users. Here's a new, free call notification system based on IP voice technology that does the job more reliably.

AT&T Wireless  
[August 11, 2000]  In retrospect, there is a certain inevitability to a major mobile wireless player charging into the burgeoning market for fixed wireless services.

Laser Wireless — the Next Big Thing?
[July 27, 2000]  Laser technology, which is point-to-multipoint, is used to create cellular-like IP-based metropolitan area nets in densely populated business centers. It uses spectrum in the unlicensed 190 Terahertz (THz) range and is capable of connection speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second.

ASP Opportunity for Consumer ISPs 
[July 21, 2000] Most ASPs have set their sights on the business market, but consumers are viable application services customers, as one Canadian ISP, partnering with a U.S. ASP, are setting out to prove.

Broadband Mobile Wireless
[July 10, 2000]  Today's wireless Internet "devices," while trendy, are really little more than toys. But serious, high-bandwidth mobile wireless is looming on the horizon. Early deployments could be operational within two years.

ASP Enablers Proliferate 
[June 14, 2000] As the concept of ISP/ASP synergy gathers force, more and more companies are bringing to market new, easy-to-implement solutions. Here are two of them.

Wireless News Briefs - June 1, 2000  
• New Wave of Price Drops
• IPO is a Breeze
• Taking the Orinoco Route
• Fastest Bridge/Router in the West?

Wireless-Only Players, Take 3
[May 30, 2000]  Two ambitious Florida-based wireless shops plan rapid, massive expansion—and they'll both be courting dialup ISPs as partners.

ISP to ASP: One Easy Way to Go 
[May 17, 2000] The prospect of a new product line — application services — with no muss or fuss and almost no investment would make most ISPs sit up and take notice. One San Francisco company appears to be offering this.

Pure Wireless ISP Play, Take 2 
[April 24, 2000] Last month we reported on what we rashly characterized as the first wireless-only ISP in North America. Turns out that several providers predate it. Here's a look at two that have been there, done that.

Internet Call Waiting: Rewards Without Risks 
[April 17, 2000] The fledgeling ICW industry has made a sharp course correction. Rather than require ISPs to invest in infrastructure, providers now offer the service on an ASP basis.

Pure Wireless ISP Play 
[March 23, 2000] North Carolina startup GetOnTheAir Inc. may well be the first ISP in existence to poo-poo dial-up or any other form of wired connectivity. It's off to a running start.

Serious about Voice? Become a CLEC  
[February 16, 2000] Complex? Yes, but still an option worth considering. For starters, you'll save enough on trunk charges to pay for the status-change operation. And then, you'll be able to offer voice over DSL

Become a CLEC: Part 2 
[March 15, 2000] For most ISPs, the immediate savings on trunk charges justify the move, but those who become fully functioning CLECs can look forward to garnering a portion of a projected $160 billion telecom market.

1999

Internet Call Waiting - Part 1 
[December 15, 1999] Want some of the revenue associated with the promise of IP telephony—without the headaches and uncertainty? Here's a promising line of business. Internet Call Waiting - Part 2 

Wireless in Montana  
[December 29, 1999] Why aren't more ISPs selling wireless Net connectivity—especially considering the lack of rural broadband alternatives? One Montana ISP says it's neither difficult nor expensive.

Broadband Now—The Wireless Way 
[December 1, 1999] Your business customers want fast Internet access. DSL's a great solution—except where it's unavailable or won't work. Wireless, by contrast, works just about anywhere. And you can have it now.

VoIP News Briefs - November 11, 1999  
• New end-to-end turnkey solution 
• Ready for IP over Voice?
• NetSpeak earnings up (but still in the red)
• Look for more Voice over Broadband
• Spending on VoIP expected to skyrocket

Instant Messaging: Future ISP Opportunity? 
[Nov. 17, 1999] VoIP barely has a toehold, but visionaries are already looking to the time when the Web, VoIP, and the PSTN have merged into a single communications system.

VoIP News Briefs - October 20, 1999  
• New IP Phone appliances bypass the PC 
• Study predicts VoIP gateway explosion.  
• Carrier/Switch package eases entry

The Tax Man Cometh? 
[October 13, 1999] Accustomed to operating in an unregulated (and largely untaxed) environment, ISPs jumping into the Internet phone business tend to ignore tax issues—to their peril.

VoIP News Briefs - September 15, 1999  
• Synergy at the Gateway/Networking level.
• Piggyback billing for ITSPs

Hands-Off Calling Service 
[September 9, 1999]  A new VoIP business model from TEK DigiTel locates (free) hardware on customer premises and utilizes partners' managed IP networks. ISPs act primarily as agents.

VoIP News Briefs - August 18, 1999  
• Pulver scheme lets VoIP gateway operators trade call termination time.
• Casio PhoneMate and partner announce voice multiplier.

Turnkey VoIP System—Network Included  
[ August 11, 1999]  A managed network combines with centralized clearing-house, billing, and accounting functionality to make a reliable, profitable, hassle-free value-add for ISPs.

VoIP Interoperability Now!  
[July 21, 1999]  No new technology can get a foothold in the market without standards. The slowly evolving H.323 just doesn't cut it for Voice over IP, but a new interim solution is taking shape.

VoIP News Briefs - July 8, 1999
• AboveNet to implement VoIP internally.
• Information-Highway launches ad-supported VoIP service.
• Paul Allen'a Charter Communications to offer VoIP via cable.

Taking the VoIP Plunge 
[June 11, 1999] Industry analysts report that more than one-third of all North American ISPs are planning to offer Voice over IP services by the end of next year. Will this prove to be a bonanza—or a bust?