Construction company Laing O'Rourke has formed a strategic
alliance with processor manufacturer Intel to promote the use of
wireless technology internally and with its customers.
Laing O'Rourke is installing wireless Lan hotspots at its
construction sites and offices in the UK and plans to provide many
of its 4,000 staff with notebook PCs containing Intel Centrino
wireless-enabled chips.
"There is undoubtedly a return on investment case in using wireless
technology," said Sam Simons, director of strategy at Laing
O'Rourke. "The cost of time in our business is the most significant
cost we deal with. We need to get access to up-to-date data in a
timely way."
Simons said the move would radically improve site communications
and the productivity of the firm's engineers by giving them mobile
access to the corporate network and applications such as e-mail.
A key factor in the decision to adopt Centrino was battery life.
The company hopes to get "a working day" out of a notebook on a
single charge. "Until Centrino, we did not have the coming together
of mobility with long-term battery life," said Simons.
The company also aims to spread the use of wireless technology in
the UK by leaving a legacy of wireless hotspots in place at the
construction projects it works on, which include the new terminal 5
at Heathrow Airport.
Laing O'Rourke, which has a turnover of £1.4bn a year, also aims to
look into the materials used in buildings and how they are built to
address the problem of wireless signals being blocked by
structures. "We want to make the world more Wi-Fi-friendly," said
Simons.
Adrian Criddle, corporate development director at Intel, said its
relationship with Laing O'Rourke was vital because it would enable
the chip maker to look into the capabilities of wireless Lans in
new buildings.
Criddle said Laing O'Rourke is part of "a new breed of partners"
surrounding the Centrino launch. He said alliances with firms in
areas such as telecoms and the financial sector will follow.