News
Issue #2003 - 10 (March 2003)
(Updated Mar. 26, 2003)

APPLICATION SOLUTIONS & APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

IBM Helps Take Truck Stops Wireless with Linux
By Thor Olavsrud

NEW ORLEANS -- Aiming to become a key player in the deployment and integration of Wi-Fi  wireless local area networks (WLANs), IBM recently signed an agreement with Columbia Advanced Wireless (CAW) and Rocksteady Networks which rig more than 1,000 truck stops across the U.S. with IEEE 802.11 hotspots.

IBM Global Services will deploy the networks using IBM eServer xSeries servers running Linux, with Rocksteady supplying its NSA Network Sharing application, which authenticates and then dynamically manages the Internet session based on a driver's credentials. It also offers additional capabilities, including dynamic bandwidth sharing and metering, which allocates and prioritizes bandwidth usage in real time on a user-by-user basis.

CAW, which specializes in equipping truck stops with Wi-Fi, says that more than 25 percent of the nation's 3.3 million truck drivers, carry laptops, allowing them to locate and negotiate loads, do their banking, stay in touch with business partners, employers and family, and to track weather and road conditions.

"Trucking enterprises can help maximize the return on their IT investment by utilizing an on demand operating environment through this secure, reliable and scalable end-to-end mobility solution," said Rich Michos, vice president, Linux Servers, IBM. "Accessing backend applications and data running Rocksteady Network software on Linux and IBM Intel-based servers, the new solution will help streamline the efficiency of the trucking industry's business processes enabling truckers to do more business from the road."

For IBM, the deal complements its relationship with Cometa Networks, a venture backed by IBM, Intel (Quote, Company Info) and AT&T Wireless with the aim of rolling out a ubiquitous nationwide network of public WLANs. On March 11, Cometa announced a test bed deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots in 10 McDonald's restaurants in Manhattan, with IBM Global Services deploying and integrating the networks. By year's end, McDonald's plans to extend the deployment to several hundred restaurants in three major U.S. markets. However, IBM is not exclusively tied to Cometa.

"There's no specific algorithm," Rod Adkins, general manager of Pervasive Computing at IBM, told internetnews.com. "In some cases it makes sense to do it through Cometa. Cometa is a channel in terms of these different Wi-Fi deployment opportunities." 

IBM's Wi-Fi engagements have been growing. It has worked with Toronto police to build a Wi-Fi public infrastructure that allows police in cruisers to roam between public WLANs and traditional private packet networks. The WLANs give them the capabilities of exchanging rich media -- for instance allowing officers to pull a mug shot from headquarters, but they can still seamlessly roam with the private packet networks that give them more limited text capabilities.

The company is also working with public agencies in Washington, D.C., to build public WLANs that help agencies like EMS, police departments and fire departments connect with each other. "They can now communication and share information between the agencies," Adkins said.

Source: Internet News - By Thor Olavsrud 
For more information: http://www.ibm.com/pvc

MobileInfo Comments and Advisory: Truck stops are ideal locations for hot spots because many wide area networks do not serve these locations well - being far away from urban populations. Secondly, satellite networks that do provide universal coverage on highways are kind of expensive. If you consider the fact that all these locations do have fixed line connectivity, WLANs in these locations make a lot of sense. For IBM, it is a good infrastructure deployment business opportunity.

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