The Globe and Mail

Toshiba of Canada Information Systems Group (ISG) is launching a nation-wide pay-per-use wireless Internet access system.

"Toshiba Hotspots" will involve the installation of wireless Internet access in retail and public locations across the country, the first program of its kind to be introduced by a computer manufacturer in Canada.

"When Canadians gain access to wireless communications they fully enjoy the benefits of mobile computing," said Mary Ann Yule, vice-president of marketing for Toshiba of Canada ISG, in a statement announcing the project. "We've been putting notebook computers into the hands of Canadians for 18 years. We see this as the next step in creating total computer mobility -- we're giving those same people the Wi-Fi infrastructure and accessories necessary to access information anytime, anywhere."

Several Toshiba Hotspots are already operational, and it plans to have more than 1,000 available across Canada within the year.

Wireless hot spots use the Wi-Fi standard, technically known as 802.11b. It operates at 11 Mbps under ideal conditions, about 10 times faster than the average DSL high-speed Internet connection, and newer additions to the Wi-Fi standard such as 802.11a and 802.11g boost the speed even higher. Notebooks or handheld computers within about 100 meters of a Wi-Fi hotspot can use a built-in or add-on Wi-Fi card to access the Internet through the hotspot's wireless gateway.

While Toshiba is the first computer vendor to offer Wi-Fi hotspots in Canada, the idea is not new. Many other wireless systems are already in the works throughout North America. Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA has a network of hot spots in 2,000 Starbucks across the United States. There are also numerous startup companies selling the service through partners, such as hotels and cafés. Further, there are some organizations offering free Wi-Fi service, such as NYCwireless and its coverage of the busy Bryant Park beside the main branch of the New York Public Library.

AT&T Corp., Intel Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. recently threw support behind Cometa Networks Inc., a venture that hopes to install and operate a hot-spot network in the United States. The goal, Cometa said, is to position hot spots within five minutes reach of any customer in the 50 largest U.S. cities.

In Canada, one-year-old Spotnik Mobile Inc. said in late November that it received $6-million from the venture arm of Telus Corp., the country's No. 2 phone company behind BCE Inc.'s Bell. (BCE Inc. controls Bell Globemedia, owner of The Globe and Mail.) Spotnik is building an open platform network, through which it will provide Wi-Fi services to service providers who want to partner with the company.

Toronto-based Spotnik plans to announce a hot-spot network in Southern Ontario in early 2003. DoDo Wireless Inc., another Toronto upstart, plans to launch a network in January.

Bell Canada has been running a similar pilot project. Free until late March, it is aimed at business customers and is available at several sites in Montreal, Kingston, Ont., and Toronto. The project will also include service at Air Canada airport lounges in Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and elsewhere.

Toshiba Hotspots are areas equipped with Toshiba wireless routers that provide public wireless Internet. Under a revenue-sharing agreement, Toshiba Hotspots can be installed everywhere from coffee shops to hotels to campuses, hospitals or airport lounges as a pay-per-use wireless Internet access service. Up to 253 notebook or handheld computer users with integrated Wi-Fi or with wireless LAN cards for Wi-Fi capacity can connect to a single Toshiba Hotspot.

Toshiba's wireless Internet access system is a pay-per-use service. Consumers who walk into a Toshiba Hotspot business or location with their Wi-Fi-enabled notebook or handheld computer and launch a browser to connect to the Internet. The browser request is forwarded to the Toshiba Network Operations Centre (NOC) and the NOC sends a first page with payment choices, including credit card or coupon payment options. Once the payment option is selected and authenticated, the user can access the Internet. At the end of the session, the user clicks on a disconnect icon to send a message to the Toshiba NOC to end the session and to contact the appropriate billing partner.

In a study released Tuesday, research firm Ipsos-Reid said that in the U.S. alone, tech-savvy customers are embracing Wi-Fi for home networks and the total number of users of the wireless technology is expected to soar by about 50 per cent in the next six months.

The finding are based on research Ipsos did in late January. The study said three per cent of U.S. homes already have Wi-Fi networks in place, and added that "as more public areas add hot-spots and more people adopt Wi-Fi in the home, the technology should move beyond its present nascent stage. As new laptops, cellular phones and PDAs include standard Wi-Fi capability, cost will become less of an issue, helping Wi-Fi technology take root in the U.S. Wi-Fi is poised to become a must have' technology for fast and convenient Internet use."