Future applications for the wireless Internet will depend on its ability to offer data transmission speeds that are comparable with the wired Web. With the potential for increased speeds, wireless Internet users will be able to conduct transactions and connect with services that previously have been thought of as exclusive to the wired Web.
With this added functionality will come a greater dependence on wireless devices that will test the reliability of service providers’ backbone services. To help with these reliability concerns, Austin, Texas-based Broadcloud Communications Inc. is currently in beta trials of its Wireless Internet Protocol service platform designed to enhance the reliability and transmission speed of large amounts of data over wireless networks. The company claims its service platform delivers performance that is twice as reliable, up to ten time faster and uses up to 75 percent less bandwidth than current mobile Internet services.
Bolstering its claim, Broadcloud recently was granted a U.S. patent for the technology forming the basis of its Wireless Internet Protocol service platform.
“Broadcloud is using its patented technology to extend the full Internet experience to the mobile environment via wireless networks,” explained Ed Acosta, president and chief executive officer of Broadcloud. “Wireless networks are unreliable because most Internet protocol assumptions are based on the physical performance characteristics of wireline networks. As a result, the Internet protocol suite is essentially `busted’ when used on existing and future wireless networks.”
Acosta, a former researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the performance implications threaten the success of the wireless Internet and demand that new protocol technology be introduced to allow the wireless Internet to achieve its full potential
The service platform, designed to work wherever there is digital packet data network coverage, can be downloaded by a software client onto a wireless-enabled mobile device. Once installed and activated by the user, any Internet request that is made wirelessly is transparently directed to use Broadcloud’s service platform without any changes in device or network configuration.
Broadcloud said it will generate revenues from the service through channel partnerships and revenue sharing relationships with ISPs, ASPs, wireless carriers and enterprises who will, in turn, make the service available to end users.
“This patent is an important step toward launching the service platform that allows mobile users to fully utilize the Internet on mobile computing devices such as [personal digital assistants] and laptops,” Acosta added.
The company said the platform service is available for PDAs and laptop computers, with future support expected for a broader range of wireless devices and 2.5 generation and third-generation networks.
