With another week at a close, the Wireless Backhaul space finds a number of notable developments. As always, TMCnet was there to cover it all.

This week in Wireless Backhaul, TMC (News - Alert) Contributor Mini Swamy reported that Wi-Fi is no longer a luxury and argued that public places shouldn’t charge for Wi-Fi as an amenity.

Businesses like DragNFly and Cloud Nine see the advantages of offering free Wi-Fi to customers in retail locations. Their partnership passes on the costs of Wi-Fi to retailers instead of to customers. If mall shoppers receive free Wi-Fi from DragNFly, for example, they would receive targeted advertising from businesses within the mall over platforms operated by Cloud Nine.

In India this week, small telecom firms got an important financial boost. The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) in India decided to allow telecom firms mortgage wireless spectrum as a collateralized asset to raise funds for their businesses. This move should allow banks to increase lending to telecom startups that previously did not have assets to offer as collateral for loans.  

The world of Wireless Backhaul also saw the release of some new solutions this week. Dax Networks of India launched a new 3G-enabled wireless router. In addition to meeting all 802.11n Draft 2.0 wireless standards, the router enables security controls including firewalls, WEP and MAC filtering. The router also features a Web-based interface for configuration and for firmware updates.

Transition Networke released a new network interface device (NID), which delivers an on-premises access point between customer networks and the provider’s connections. The NID provides loopback testing capabilities as well as the ability to isolate remote faults. Providers thus see fewer service calls and the chance to reduce the number of test sets in the field as a result.

New partnerships in Wireless Backhaul included the announcement of a new government contract between RELM Wireless and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The Bureau’s order of portable and mobile radios will support firefighters who are fighting wildfires in drought-stricken areas of the country.

Also, Centina Systems announced that Conterra Broadband services had implemented its NetOmnia solution, which combines both wireless and wireline capabilities to bring broadband to underserved communities.

Lastly, Meraki introduced a new security suite called Air Marshal with the goal of helping large enterprises to prevent eavesdropping and the illegal acquisition of information over their wireless networks.

Wireless Backhaul’s community e-newsletter will keep you up to date on the latest in wireless news. Until then, keep checking back with TMCnet for the latest from the Wireless Backhaul world.

Want to learn more about the impact and potential future of White Spaces? Then be sure to attend the Super Wi-Fi Summit, collocated with ITEXPO West 2012 taking place Oct. 2-5 2012, in Austin, TX. Co-sponsored by TMC Partner Crossfire Media the Super Wi-Fi Summit will address the opportunities, challenges and technical issues surrounding the use of White Spaces for wireless broadband services. The event will cover all aspects of the White Spaces market including, results and next steps for recent technical trials, White Spaces backhaul opportunities, database issues, White Spaces Devices, Spectrum (News - Alert) Issues, Standards and more. For more information on registering for the Super Wi-Fi Summit click here.

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