IT-Review

WiFi Mesh Networks Taking Off in Europe

Wireless mesh networking will be the next step in WiFi development. Although wireless mesh is now mainly offered by start-up companies, IDC expects network vendors to follow Nortel and Motorola and announce their own mesh solutions, or cooperate with one of the mesh start-ups.

WiFi has received a tremendous amount of interest in the past couple of years and carriers have started to offer WiFi hotspot services at public locations. While there are over 24,000 hotspots in Europe, WiFi coverage is still patchy. Because mesh networks are quick and easy to deploy and, more importantly, significantly reduce the need for wiring the backbone, wireless mesh architectures can have a positive impact on extending the reach of WiFi zones.

While there are already a number of wireless mesh deployments in the U.S., European interest in mesh topology for creating large wireless networks has just started to take off and most deployments are still in their early stages. It is now mainly used in metropolitan areas where it serves as either an alternative for broadband services to end users or is used to create local government networks. Only four of the existing mesh networks in Europe provide public wireless access services.

Established hotspot providers haven't publicly announced the usage of mesh for creating large-scale hotspots. However, it is likely that operators have already started to look at this option. Mesh offers an alternative for creating large WiFi zones in airports or conference centers, for instance. It also provides opportunities for creating metropolitan networks where the need to assign separate contracts with individual location owners can be eliminated.

Wireless mesh architectures are also beneficial for large enterprises or campuses, and particularly in areas that are more difficult to wire, mesh provides advantages in extending wireless coverage. Over time, mesh nodes will be integrated within the wired as well as traditional WiFi networks. Nortel for example has already positioned mesh as an extension to its existing WLAN product portfolio. In addition, switch vendor Trapeze Networks has revealed plans to use its management system for integrating mesh solutions into traditional WLAN and LAN networks.

IDC's study, "Mesh Networking -- The Next Step in WiFi Development" (IDC #SP06L, December 2004), provides a qualitative assessment of the prospects of wireless networking based on mesh technology in Western Europe, and gives a high-level overview of different mesh solutions and vendor profiles.

Source: press release

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