MobileStar

Last updated
First logo of MobileStar Network, Inc. MobileStar Network logo.png
First logo of MobileStar Network, Inc.

MobileStar Network was a wireless Internet service provider which first gained notability in deploying Wi-Fi Internet access points in Starbucks coffee shops, American Airlines Admiral Club locations across the United States and at Hilton Hotels. Founded by Mark Goode and Greg Jackson in 1998, MobileStar was the first wireless ISP to place a WiFi hotspot in an airport, a hotel, or a coffee shop. MobileStar's core value proposition was to provide wireless broadband connectivity for the business traveler in all the places s/he was likely to "sleep, eat, move, or meet." MobileStar's founder, Mark Goode, was the first to coin the now industry standard expression "hotspot," as a reference to a location equipped with an 802.11 wireless access point.

Mayfield Fund, San Jose, CA Mayfield Logo.jpg
Mayfield Fund, San Jose, CA

MobileStar's financing was initially provided by Greg Jackson. A predecessor entity, PLANCOM (Public Local Area Network Communications), was disbanded and the intellectual property moved into MobileStar Network. During the Series A financing round, funds were obtained from high-net-worth investors, corporate investors including Proxim and Comdisco, and institutional investors from New York. The Series B investors, who invested $38 million, included the Mayfield Fund [1] and Blueprint Ventures.

MobileStar's initial deployments used a frequency hopping product supplied by Proxim. As reported in the EE Times, "In a move that represents the first use of unlicensed wireless LAN technology in the industrial scientific and medical (ISM) bands to develop a nationwide Internet-access network, Proxim Inc. has teamed up with Dallas-based MobileStar Network Inc. to link its 2.4-GHz unlicensed RangeLAN2 wireless LAN to a national network of Internet access points." However, after the IEEE 802.11b standard was adopted, MobileStar converted its network infrastructure to the 802.11b industry standard. The initial infrastructure was manufactured and financed by Cisco. MobileStar's founders faced many challenges in developing the company: evolving technology standards, fluid business models, no industry standard billing system, and questions about the competitive value of a site license agreement instead of licensed spectrum. Over time each of these issues were addressed and the agreement with Starbucks in late 2000 signaled a maturing of the marketplace. [2] American Airlines also entered into an agreement with MobileStar [3] as did Hilton Hotels [4] As more laptop vendors included integrated 802.11 wireless connectivity within their laptops, users came to expect broadband connectivity in their residences, workplaces, and in public locations such as airports, coffee shops, and hotels. License-free broadband connectivity exploded with the advent of the iPhone in 2007, further validating the premise that license-free spectrum could open up a large domain of connectivity at a cost far less than licensed spectrum. The rise of voice over IP (VOIP) communications operating on the 2.4 MHz spectrum via the 802.11 standard was another indicator of the power of ubiquitous, low to no cost wireless broadband communications.

MobileStar Network's demise in 2001 was the result of at least two important factors: the collapse in the private equity markets in mid-2001 and the events of September 11. While MobileStar's investors provided a bridge loan during the mid-2001 time frame, the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington brought a steep decline in business travel, MobileStar Network's initial core market. MobileStar's investors could not continue to finance the business and new investors were skittish about investing in a company focused on serving a market that had recently and rapidly collapsed.

MobileStar Network ceased operation in October 2001, but its bankrupt assets and contracts were bought by Voicestream Wireless and by February 2002, was operating as T-Mobile Broadband. T-Mobile Broadband was the first part of VoiceStream to rebrand to the T-Mobile name. It was officially launched as T-Mobile HotSpot in August 2002. [5] Many of the original MobileStar Network employees still work for T-Mobile Hotspot and have been responsible for its expansion.

T-Mobile Hotspot location T-Mobile Hotspot Hamburg Germany 15758430945.jpg
T-Mobile Hotspot location

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wireless broadband</span> Telecommunications technology

Wireless broadband is a telecommunications technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area. The term encompasses both fixed and mobile broadband.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wireless community network</span>

Wireless community networks or wireless community projects or simply community networks, are non-centralized, self-managed and collaborative networks organized in a grassroots fashion by communities, non-governmental organizations and cooperatives in order to provide a viable alternative to municipal wireless networks for consumers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wi-Fi</span> Wireless local area network

Wi-Fi is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves. These are the most widely used computer networks, used globally in home and small office networks to link devices and to provide Internet access with wireless routers and wireless access points in public places such as coffee shops, hotels, libraries, and airports to provide visitors.

Wireless local loop (WLL) is the use of a wireless communications link as the "last mile / first mile" connection for delivering plain old telephone service (POTS) or Internet access to telecommunications customers. Various types of WLL systems and technologies exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IEEE 802.20</span> IEEE standard

IEEE 802.20 or Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) was a specification by the standard association of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for mobile broadband networks. The main standard was published in 2008. MBWA is no longer being actively developed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WiMAX</span> Wireless broadband standard

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options.

The S band is a designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). Thus it crosses the conventional boundary between the UHF and SHF bands at 3.0 GHz. The S band is used by airport surveillance radar for air traffic control, weather radar, surface ship radar, and some communications satellites, particularly satellites used by NASA to communicate with the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. The 10 cm radar short-band ranges roughly from 1.55 to 5.2 GHz. The S band also contains the 2.4–2.483 GHz ISM band, widely used for low power unlicensed microwave devices such as cordless phones, wireless headphones (Bluetooth), wireless networking (WiFi), garage door openers, keyless vehicle locks, baby monitors as well as for medical diathermy machines and microwave ovens. India's regional satellite navigation network (IRNSS) broadcasts on 2.483778 to 2.500278 GHz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wireless mesh network</span> Radio nodes organized in a mesh topology

A wireless mesh network (WMN) is a communications network made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology. It can also be a form of wireless ad hoc network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wi-Fi hotspot</span> Wi-Fi access point

A hotspot is a physical location where people can obtain Internet access, typically using Wi-Fi technology, via a wireless local-area network (WLAN) using a router connected to an Internet service provider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HomeRF</span> Wireless networking specification

HomeRF was a wireless networking specification for home devices. It was developed in 1998 by the Home Radio Frequency Working Group, a consortium of mobile wireless companies that included Proxim Wireless, Intel, Siemens AG, Motorola, Philips and more than 100 other companies.

The IEEE 802.21 refers to Media Independent Handoff (MIH) and is an IEEE standard published in 2008. The standard supports algorithms enabling seamless handover between wired and wireless networks of the same type as well as handover between different wired and wireless network types also called Media independent handover (MIH) or vertical handover. The vertical handover was first introduced by Mark Stemn and Randy Katz at U C Berkeley. The standard provides information to allow handing over to and from wired 802.3 networks to wireless 802.11, 802.15, 802.16, 3GPP and 3GPP2 networks through different handover mechanisms.

802.11j-2004 or 802.11j is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard designed specially for Japanese market. It allows wireless LAN operation in the 4.9–5.0 GHz band to conform to the Japanese rules for radio operation for indoor, outdoor and mobile applications. The amendment has been incorporated into the published IEEE 802.11-2007 standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-speed multimedia radio</span>

High-speed multimedia radio (HSMM) is the implementation of high-speed wireless TCP/IP data networks over amateur radio frequency allocations using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware such as 802.11 Wi-Fi access points. This is possible because the 802.11 unlicensed frequency bands partially overlap with amateur radio bands and ISM bands in many countries. Only licensed amateur radio operators may legally use amplifiers and high-gain antennas within amateur radio frequencies to increase the power and coverage of an 802.11 signal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ORiNOCO</span>

ORiNOCO was the brand name for a family of wireless networking technology by Proxim Wireless. These integrated circuits provide wireless connectivity for 802.11-compliant Wireless LANs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile broadband</span> Marketing term

Mobile broadband is the marketing term for wireless Internet access via mobile (cell) networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a tablet/smartphone or other mobile device. The first wireless Internet access became available in 1991 as part of the second generation (2G) of mobile phone technology. Higher speeds became available in 2001 and 2006 as part of the third (3G) and fourth (4G) generations. In 2011, 90% of the world's population lived in areas with 2G coverage, while 45% lived in areas with 2G and 3G coverage. Mobile broadband uses the spectrum of 225 MHz to 3700 MHz.

In telecommunications, white spaces refer to radio frequencies allocated to a broadcasting service but not used locally. National and international bodies assign frequencies for specific uses and, in most cases, license the rights to broadcast over these frequencies. This frequency allocation process creates a bandplan which for technical reasons assigns white space between used radio bands or channels to avoid interference. In this case, while the frequencies are unused, they have been specifically assigned for a purpose, such as a guard band. Most commonly however, these white spaces exist naturally between used channels, since assigning nearby transmissions to immediately adjacent channels will cause destructive interference to both.

The Wireless LAN Interoperability Forum (WLIF) was a non-profit industry organization founded in 1996 to promote and certify wireless LAN products. It was active from about 1996 through 1998 and disbanded in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile broadband modem</span> Modem providing Internet access via a wireless connection

A mobile broadband modem, also known as wireless modem or cellular modem, is a type of modem that allows a personal computer or a router to receive wireless Internet access via a mobile broadband connection instead of using telephone or cable television lines. A mobile Internet user can connect using a wireless modem to a wireless Internet Service Provider (ISP) to get Internet access.

LTE in unlicensed spectrum is an extension of the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless standard that allows cellular network operators to offload some of their data traffic by accessing the unlicensed 5 GHz frequency band. LTE-Unlicensed is a proposal, originally developed by Qualcomm, for the use of the 4G LTE radio communications technology in unlicensed spectrum, such as the 5 GHz band used by 802.11a and 802.11ac compliant Wi-Fi equipment. It would serve as an alternative to carrier-owned Wi-Fi hotspots. Currently, there are a number of variants of LTE operation in the unlicensed band, namely LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA), MulteFire, sXGP and CBRS.

References

  1. ↑ "MobileStar raises $38M in second-round financing - RCR Wireless News". 10 April 2000.
  2. ↑ "Starbucks wireless network a sweet deal for MobileStar". Archived from the original on 2013-10-15. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  3. ↑ "American Airlines and MobileStar Network to Deliver Wireless Internet Connectivity to American's Passengers. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com.
  4. ↑ Net, Hospitality. "MobileStar Network to Supply U.S. Hilton Hotels With Wireless High-Speed Internet Access". Hospitality Net.
  5. ↑ "MobileStar network back on - CNET News". 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.