United Parcel Service (UPS) is to test public access
W-Fiat 66 of its retail packaging and shipping stores in the
Chicago area.
Nick Costides, retail technology group manager at UPS, said the
company will gauge customer interest in the service. If there is
enough demand, UPS will roll out Wi-Fi services at more than 3,000
US locations.
Costides is also looking at making Wi-Fi access available in the
1,000 UPS retail outlets in other countries.
UPS will attach Wi-Fi connections to the internet on a
nationwide network that serves its in-store computers and
point-of-sales systems, Costides said. The network uses DSL links
with an average data throughput of 256Kbit/sec, although some cable
modems are also used.
Costides said UPS has isolated and secured the portion of the
network that will carry public Wi-Fi traffic from the part that
transmits corporate data. During peak usage periods for the
in-store systems, the company's network managers will be able to
cut back on Wi-Fi throughput to avoid performance hits.
Alan Reiter, an analyst at Wireless Internet & Mobile
Computing, said the attached connections planned by UPS are a key
to developing nationwide Wi-Fi access capabilities. But that is
also the most expensive option, adding that if the service is
popular, UPS might need to install T1 pipes with 1.54Mbit/sec
transmission rates.
Wi-Fi setups use 802.11b wireless Lan technology to provide
11Mbit/sec connections between users' laptop PCs and wireless
access points.
Market research firm Datamonitor predicted the number of Wi-Fi
hot spots worldwide would grow from 31,000 this year to 135,000 by
2007.
FedEx has also considered offering public-access Wi-Fi to its
customers, but has seen little demand for the technology so far,
said Ken Pasley, director of wireless systems development at FedEx.
He noted that FedEx's retail locations and the customer service
counters at its shipment hubs are, essentially, package drop-off
and pick-up sites.
Bob Brewin writes for Computerworld