Apple iPhone in the enterprise

The iPhone may help make a market for dual-mode devices, but the technology may not be ready for the market No doubt the Apple iPhone will create a stir regarding the kind of services and applications dual-mode devices can deliver. But the success of dual-mode -- cellular plus Wi-Fi -- in the enterprise may depend on the willingness of cellular carriers to share their networks with Wi-Fi providers. One source te

The iPhone may help make a market for dual-mode devices, but the technology may not be ready for the market

No doubt the Apple iPhone will create a stir regarding the kind of services and applications dual-mode devices can deliver. But the success of dual-mode -- cellular plus Wi-Fi -- in the enterprise may depend on the willingness of cellular carriers to share their networks with Wi-Fi providers. One source tells me that both T-Mobile and Cingular, now AT&T, will drop any VoIP phone call originating from a handset if Skype is the service provider.

This kind of anticompetitive behavior won't last long, but at the moment, if true, it is worth considering, especially as carriers themselves begin dabbling in VoIP. T-Mobile, for one, is currently test-marketing its own VoIP service in Seattle.

If blocking VoIP calls sounds far-fetched, consider that Frank Hanzlik, managing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance, told me other carriers have VoIP capability but don’t want that fact known. He refused to mention which carriers.

Before standardizing on a dual-mode phone, enterprises should also consider the true ubiquity of the network. Uptime in airports and coffee shops is not the same as door-to-door coverage and would preclude using any serious business application on a dual-mode phone.

I spoke with Mohan Natarajan, vice president of engineering at Firetide, about this concern.

Firetide, and other mesh-networking companies, can greatly extend your Wi-Fi capabilities by deploying mesh nodes throughout a city. At present, Firetide has 3,000 nodes in a 50-square-mile section of Singapore, giving users 70Mbps access. Here in the States, however, mesh hasn't caught on, except in the public-safety sector, for which Firetide has deployed mesh networks in Dallas and Phoenix.

Wi-Fi traffic management also remains in its early stages. Wi-Fi Alliance's Hanzlik says resource management standards -- IEEE 802.11k and 802.11v -- are now under review and that nothing should be expected in terms of approvals before the end of 2008.

How to handle power output in a heavily trafficked Wi-Fi environment is the crux of the traffic management problem. Firetide's Natarajan compares the problem to having 10 pairs of people in a room all shouting at one another at once in order to be heard above the din. IEEE 802.11k and 802.11v will address this issue by modulating the power so that, as in our example, the 10 pairs of people learn to talk in an audible whisper and everyone gets heard.