African economies hinder wireless adoption

23.01.2006
Wireless is rapidly becoming the most profound technology of our age. Recent Meta Group research suggests that, within four to five years, 80 percent of corporate users will have one or more mobile devices integrated with the corporate infrastructure, and Gartner says that investing in wireless technology will make mobile workers up to 30 percent more productive.

Things to come

Wireless does not necessarily mean mobility, but, without it, mobility will be pretty difficult.

Says Thibault Dousson, HP's PSG category country manager: 'As we move towards the reality of an undefined wireless world, the challenge is how to make connectivity manageable and adaptable, so that it can truly enhance productivity. It is pointless to bring out new technology if it is not easy to manage, as this will become a barrier to business.'

'The bottom line is that over the next few years, high-speed networks composed of an array of underlying technologies and using converged devices will become more widespread, with more people enjoying more bandwidth in more places,' Dousson says.

Heinz Stephan, director product and technology at Comztek, says: 'The technology that allows us to connect to such resources as the Internet is mainly GPRS and 3G, then the wireless network, which relies on technology such as Wi-Fi. The future is obviously the marrying of the two technologies -- mobile and wireless -- to ultimately provide an always-on, always-connected, transparent roaming environment.'