Rabbit Points a way to wireless hotspots

The 3GSM exhibition in Barcelona really isn't the right place to try to demonstrate wireless.

Every company is doing it, and so when Rabbit Point set up a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Mesh, it was quickly told to turn it off by the official Wifi provider of the show.

That command turned out to be a big mistake, because the official provider trod on a cable and ended up with no Internet provision.

The result was ironic, said Russell Hutson, CTO of Rabbit Point: 'We had queues of people asking to use our local Internet connection and to see our Wifi connection, which is actually 'live' on the Internet.

'If they'd left us with our hall-wide Mesh, the exhibition would have had a working wireless Lan.'

Rabbit Point offers yet another Wifi hotspot service aimed at corporates that want to reduce voice bills racked up by staff who spend a fortune on cellphone roaming charges.

Companies can use the system for Internet access and telephony services via laptops and mobile phones, and VoIP calls can be made using any broadband connection or hotspot, including those set up by Rabbit Point.

Rabbit Point’s hotspots can be set up in a company’s office and any branch sites or premises where staff regularly work.

The underlying technology is a Locustworld wireless Mesh, and was chosen over rival mesh systems simply because of cost.

'We're seeing people who have corporate contracts with hotels for their staff insisting that the hotel sign up for our service,' said Hutson.

The technology uses a wireless mesh, so the Lan can be easily extended just by plugging in a new mesh node.

The business proposition is similar to many of the Wifi 'franchising operations' currently springing up, with most attention going to Fon, a Spanish based product.

But with its focus on corporate HQ buildings and outlying sites, it is far more business-oriented and, with very low infrastructure and maintenance costs, could be one to watch.