Forget underserved areas: The wireless broadband industry is coming hard after the established world of wire-based voice and data services, according to panelists at Tuesday's morning sessions of the Wireless Ventures conference in Redwood Shores, Calif. (UPDATED, 12:42 PM)
In back-to-back panel discussions on Wireless LAN convergence and WiMAX, participants agreed that the wireless broadband industry is not merely targeting areas where wired services aren't available. Instead, its proponents claim that wireless broadband technologies and services will eventually replace wired offerings, leading to revolutionary shifts for providers, equipment vendors and users.
What follows are some quick blog-like notes of each of the morning panels, which covered WLAN convergence, WiMAX, and Voice over WLAN in the enterprise; we'll update after the lunch presentation from Microsoft as well.
WLAN/Convergence Panel
Participants:
Roy Albert, VP and CTO, iPass
Mike Mulica, CEO, BridgePort Networks
Tad Neeley, managing director, RHK
George Simmons, CEO, Cibernet
Rod Randall, general partner, St. Paul Venture Capital (moderator)
