Cisco says hi to citywide Wi-Fi

Cisco will throw its hat into the municipal Wi-Fi ring on Tuesday when it announces wireless-network product enhancements that extend its technology into outside deployments.

Cisco has developed a new series of access points, called the Cisco Aironet 1500 Series, that can be used for citywide Wi-Fi deployments. These new access points can be deployed on rooftop, streetlight posts and power poles.

To maximize capacity, each access point is equipped with two radios. One radio uses a radio frequency protocol called Adaptive Wireless Path Protocol for access-point-to-access-point communications. The other radio is used to provide bandwidth to users.

Cisco is already the dominant supplier of wireless local-area networking equipment in the home market - through its Linksys product line - and in the enterprise market as well.

The new access points will use "mesh" technology to communicate with each other and find the best path for traffic travelling through the wireless network.

Alan Cohen, senior director in Cisco's wireless networking business unit, said: "The wireless market is moving from the home and enterprise to the outdoors. It was the next logical step for us."

The market for citywide wireless networks is enormous, analysts have said. Cities of all sizes across the US view Wi-Fi as a cost effective answer to many of their communication problems.

Some cities, such as Philadelphia and San Francisco, plan to use wireless broadband technology as a low-cost solution to providing broadband access to low-income residents.

Other cities see Wi-Fi as a great technology for building new public-safety networks and for connecting various buildings where city agencies are housed.

And still others believe that free Wi-Fi networks in public places could boost economic development by drawing more people to the city.

Craig Mathias, an analyst with Farpoint Group of Ashland, Massachusetts, said: "The market is really huge. Most municipalities could find some use for Wi-Fi, whether that's for providing commercial broadband to residents or for government purposes. The door is wide open right now."

Cisco's entrance into the market is a sign of this opportunity. Until this point, small start-ups, such as BelAir Networks and Tropos Networks, have been supplying cities with equipment.

EarthLink, which won the bid to build Philadelphia's network, is using equipment from Tropos, and so are 249 other customers, including the city of Anaheim, California.

Ron Sege, CEO of Tropos, said: "We've already been in this market for five years. Cisco will have to go through that entire learning curve. It takes time, even if you are Cisco. You can't buy experience."

Cisco's Cohen said he is ready to take on the start-ups. The company didn't compete in the Philadelphia bidding process because its technology wasn't ready at the time, he said.

But the company is competing for the San Francisco contract. And Cisco has already managed to rack up nearly a dozen wins of its own, including deployments in Dayton, Ohio, and Lebanon, Oregon.

Cohen said: "For a while, the start-ups have been the only alternative for communities building Wi-Fi networks. But now we're here."

Marguerite Reardon writes for CNET News.com