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The Wireless Internet and a Wifi Initiative in Estonia

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The Wireless Internet and a Wifi Initiative in Estonia NETWORKS The Wireless Internet and a WiFi Initiative in Estonia Veljo Haamer, editor, WiFi.ee, Estonia Figure 2. The wireless ad hoc mode Anto Veldre, Internet security expert, WiFi.ee, Estonia WHAT IS WIFI? Estonia is currently experiencing very rapid growth in one particular segment of Among all known wireless stan- the telecommunications market ≠ the segment of the wireless Internet. This is dards, the most popular is probably the happening in a country where a majority of residents already use mobile phones. IEEE 802.11b WLAN standard. Its ap- plication ensures connection speeds of The Internet became available for three or four years throughout the up to 11 Mbit/sec, with operations that public use in Estonia in 1992, and, 10 world. Most of these networks have are possible at a distance of up to 300 years on, 50% of Estonia’s residents say been based on point-to-point links. In meters from the transmitter. Normal that they have used the Internet at least the center of the city of Rîga, for in- radio rules apply, of course – the greater once. The popularity of the Net has cre- stance, telecommunications regula- the distance, the lower the service ated new needs. In many cases, con- tions forced the Internet to be mostly speed. Wireless areas can overlap so as ventional Internet use in the home or of- wireless. Other problems have includ- to allow for roaming support. Large ar- fice is not longer compatible with a mod- ed the excessive size of related equip- eas can be developed in which one can ern, speedy lifestyle. These days, people ment and the fact that vendors “spoke” move around without ever losing touch often find that they must send an ur- in different radio languages. with the wireless Internet. All the end gent E-mail, make a bank transfer or The quantum leap in development user needs is a WiFi card, and WiFi search for certain information even was caused by three factors. First of cards can be bought separately or as a when they are neither at home or at the all, radio Internet cards are being pro- part of new computers. A driver has to office. It is also true that sometimes it is duced by the million, and they cost less be installed unless a Linux operating nice just to do some work on a park than USD 100 these days. Secondly, system or any Microsoft operating sys- bench in the sunshine, instead of in an the cards are small enough to be tem from Windows XP forward is used. office. The wireless Internet network is shaped into the PCMCIA size. Finally, The WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) stan- probably the easiest and least expensive living standards in Estonia have been dard was agreed upon some three years way to make these visions possible. on the rise, and a laptop or handheld ago, the aim being to standardize the The creation of wireless networks computer is no longer a luxury for R&D efforts of a number of companies. has been a popular activity for the past many people. A manufacturer can use the WiFi logo on a new product only after strict prod- uct testing to demonstrate compatibility with standards and with previously manufactured units. Interoperability is thus ensured, so that Nokia and Cisco products can “talk” to Lucent and Dell network cards, and vice versa. The 802.11 standard defines the in- frastructure mode and the ad hoc mode. The infrastructure mode (Figure 1) in- volves at least one access point (AP) that is connected to the wired network infra- structure, along with a set of wireless end stations. This connection type is used in airports, cafes and other public places. The configuration is called a Basic Service Set (BSS). An Extended Service Set (ESS), by comparison, in- volves a set of two or more BSSs, thus forming a single sub-networks. Most so- phisticated access point models can al- Figure 1. The wireless infrastructure mode low for roaming among numerous AP Baltic IT&T Review #26 11 NETWORKS the month”; • Most new notebook computers and PDAs have installed WiFi, so no card is needed, and the antenna is hidden in- side of the unit; • There is easy access to WiFi infor- mation in Estonian (http://www. wifi.ee); • Signs denoting WiFi areas are uni- fied and easily recognized throughout Estonia – a great deal of work went into achieving agreement among ISPs and freelancers on this matter; • There has been greater competi- tion among Internet service providers since the Estonian telecommunications market opened up for competition in January 2001. THE ROLE OF WIFI.EE A key factor in any major project Figure 3. At a meeting of local WiFi community activists (from the left): Anto is coordination and synchronization. Veldre (IT manager at Tallinn Airport), Merlis Nõgene (chief editor, Radio WiFi.ee is a non-profit service orga- KUKU), Priit Noorhani (WiFi Viljandi initiative group member), and Veljo nization which promotes the idea of Haamer (editor, WiFi.ee) WiFi wireless Internet throughout Estonia. Ours is a small group of units. As is the case with GSM tele- of 2001. By the summer of 2002, there NGO enthusiasts seeking to spread phony, the user does not have to worry were 40 such areas. Approximately the use of the wireless Internet as about radio waves and access points. two-thirds of them are commercial and widely as possible, as inexpensively The user can simply move from one ac- provided by major ISPs such as Eesti as possible and as easily as possible. cess point to the next, doing so through- Telefon and Uninet. The remaining The very first thing that the out the entire service area. third are controlled by non-profit activi- group did was to reach agreement on The ad hoc mode is more crucial in ties involving local WiFi activists or pri- signs that are used to denote WiFi that it does not require any AP or cen- vate companies. All of the non-profit ar- areas (Figure 4). We worked to con- tral infrastructure. The user’s laptop eas are using standardized WiFi equip- vince major service providers of the can communicate directly with the ment so as to ensure equal availability. need for this. American experience computers of business partners or office There have been several reasons for tells us that a network alone is not colleagues (Figure 2). Here, again, we the rapid development of the WiFi idea. enough. Truly widespread use of the can look to the world of GSM for an ex- Two major factors have been the very wireless Internet requires usage ar- ample. It is no longer surprising to broad use of the Internet in Estonia, as eas that are easy to find and to iden- have two friends exchange their tele- well as the country’s well established in- tify. Information about available ar- phone lists via infrared, is it? Similarly, frastructure in this area. There are oth- eas and conditions must be easily you can create an ad hoc network when er factors, too, which have influenced found by local residents and by and where you need it, transferring the process to a greater or lesser degree: tourists. For tourists, the biggest anything that you have on your disk to • Affordability of properly certified challenge in the United States is the disks of your partners. hardware (using WiFi, not proprietary precisely this lack of information. This is a quick and easy way to set standard); There has been no unified source of up a wireless network without having • Easy installation (WiFi is the only information about all categories of to have a wireless infrastructure. mainstream mobile data transmission providers. Existing or expensive services at places technology which is so simple to use); WiFi.ee aims to be the Internet like hotel rooms, convention centers • WiFi connections are up to 200 place where one can find all WiFi-re- and airports can be bypassed. times faster than GPRS connections lated information. All open WiFi ar- More detailed information about from GSM services; eas in Estonia, moreover, are marked WiFi can be found at http://www. • One can share Internet connection with the WiFi.ee sign, irrespective of wi-fi.org. costs with a friend or neighbor; whether they provide free access or • Windows, MacOS and Linux have not. Bars and shopping centers have THE FIRST STEPS IN ESTONIA all integrated WiFi into their software, stickers similar to those from credit The first wireless connection areas which means that the user is not card companies. Open areas are in Estonia were launched in the spring chained to a specific vendor or “flavor of marked with a WiFi.ee traffic sign. 12 Baltic IT&T Review #26 NETWORKS tomers develop the Some of the WiFi areas in the reputation of inno- southern Estonian town of Viljandi vation, and this have been created so as to promote the brings in new cus- town and its cultural events. It is ex- tomers. This seg- pected that the technological misbal- ment, along with ance that exists between Tallinn and the segment of the rest of Estonia will be evened out as home offices, is now a result of these technologies. the most rapidly growing one in FUTURE FORECASTS Estonia. We expect the number of wireless The idea is also Internet areas in Estonia to increase to warmly welcomed 50 by the end of this year and for the by municipalities, number to double in each succeeding many of which have year. Segments in which we can expect already financed or WiFi to be implemented in the next co-financed the in- two years include the education sys- Figure 4.
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