AT&T, IBM, and Intel plunge into Wi-Fi - New Networks/Upgrades - Brief Article

Mobile Internet, The, Jan, 2003

AT&T, IBM, and Intel announced they are backing the build out of a nationwide network based on Wi-Fi technology. It's not clear from press reports whether the companies formed a new company called Cometa Networks to deploy the Wi-Fi network or whether Cometa is a startup. Either way, Cometa Networks plans to install the nationwide Wi-Fi network in the top 50 cities in the US by 2004.

"We're talking about installing a network with tens of thousands access points," Larry Brilliant, CEO of Cometa, said in a press release. Cometa will be the network wholesaler and depend upon ISPs and other telecom carriers to sell the retail service to users. The move by AT&T, IBM, and Intel gives Wi-Fi service some needed credibility. The cost of deploying the nationwide network was not disclosed. However, some analysts put the price tag at approximately $40 million.