US Carriers and Intel Plan National WLAN Services; T-Mobile Does WLAN in Europe 

1. Verizon, Cingular, AT&T, Intel, others explore national WLAN service
According to a report in the New York Times, several U.S. carriers including Verizon, Cingular, and AT&T Wireless along with Intel, IBM, and others are in talks for form a national 802.11b wireless network. The discussions, which are code-named Project Rainbow and have been going on for the last eight months, envision a nationwide service that would provide on-the-go professionals and other Web surfers a unified way to reach the Internet from a wide range of "hot spots" like airports and other public places. It is not intended to supply broadband connections to customers' homes, an executive involved in the discussions said. Intel, which has been the leader in these discussions, said it plans to bring wireless data access to 20 million laptops in 2003 and an additional 40 million in 2004.

2. T-Mobile to launch Euro WLAN service
T-Mobile is reportedly planning to introduce wireless LAN services before the end of 2002, locating high-speed public access networks in airport lounges, conference centers, and larger hotels where it can target business travelers. Deutsche Telekom is not a newcomer to the Wireless LAN sphere. In 2001, VoiceStream Wireless, the company's U.S. mobile subsidiary, acquired the assets of failed U.S. wireless ISP MobileStar. MobileStar has built a network of Wi-Fi hotspots in hundreds of Starbucks coffee shops across the U.S. and VoiceStream is re-launching services under the name T-Mobile Broadband.

3. IBM unveils Wi-Fi gateway
IBM recently unveiled an updated version of its wireless gateway that will let devices roam between 802.11b WLANs and cellular wide area networks. The gateway from IBM is part of a push by wireless equipment makers to couple WLANs and cellular networks. U.S. wireless carriers have indicated they want to start selling access to the growing number of Wi-Fi hot spots in hotels and airports. Thus far, only VoiceStream Wireless has begun offering any kind of Wi-Fi services, offering networks in hundreds of Starbucks retail stores.

4. iPass partners with Lucent for WLAN services
WLAN provider iPass has announced it will work with Lucent Technologies, and Lucent's partners Sierra Wireless, Agere Systems, Hewlett Packard, and ipUnplugged, to develop and sell Lucent's Secure Mobile Data for Enterprises solution. iPass claims that the new suite of products will allow enterprise customers to gain simple but secure access to corporate applications via cdma2000, UMTS, and 802.11-based WLAN networks.

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