TOKYO-SpeedNet, a telecom venture company in Japan, on Wednesday announced it launched an experiment for its wireless local area network (WLAN) services using the 5 GHz band. The experiment will be carried out through the end of December, the firm said.
During the experiment, using the 5.03 GHz to 5.091 GHz band based on IEEE 802.11a technology, SpeedNet will examine technological competency. The maximum data transmission of the service is 20 Megabits per second (Mbps).
SpeedNet has been providing WLAN service in the 2.4 GHz band for 19,000 users in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The Japanese government last month announced it would open the 5 GHz band for wireless service operators.
In related news, Gartner Japan, the Japanese business unit of Gartner Group, on Thursday said 44.5 percent of Japanese corporations have introduced wireless local area network (WLAN) services. According to the market research company, among the 44.5 percent, merely 5.9 percent of the companies introduced the system in every part of their companies, and the remaining 38.6 percent introduced the system in limited facilities, such as meeting rooms.
Answering a question about whether they would like to use the wireless service outside offices, 39.4 percent of respondents replied they would like to use the services on a bullet train, 33.9 percent said at a coffee shop and 28.7 percent said on a train. Gartner Japan sent the questionnaire to 1,300 leading companies’ executives in charge of information technology (IT) between July and August, and 591 responded.
