Will WiFi beat the mobile broadband bandwagon—Posted on March 21, 2008
Mobile broadband suddenly seems to be the technology of the moment. Judging by the sudden rash of advertising plastered across busses and evening papers, it is as if a veil has been lifted and mobile operators can suddenly see the huge demand for a truly mobile access technology. Ericsson rates its ‘dongles’ so highly, that it has predicted the technology will spell the end of WiFi and relegate it to the broadband version of a telephone box.
There is no doubting that mobile broadband is a great way of connecting while out and about, but will it really spell the end of the ubiquitous hot-spot?
WiFi, when it popped on to the scene, was pretty impressive. Internet surfers were unshackled from their fixed-pipes and suddenly Starbucks became the de rigueur place for aspiring novelists and trendy businessmen to ply their trade. Mobile broadband, however, can do all that as well.
WiFi is wireless, but it is not mobile. That means your connection is limited to within range of the router. Mobile broadband offers much more than this. As long as you are within range of a 3G base station you can access high-speed broadband. In theory this means you can sit on a train, or in a car, or anywhere at home and still be able to check your latest company emails or eBay auction bid. In terms of pure technology, when operating properly, mobile broadband can pose a serious challenge to WiFi.
The problem with mobile broadband is that at present 3G coverage is not quite good enough to support a faultless service. There is still patchy coverage across parts of the county and this will lead to the service being slowed down or even dropped on occasions. Not great if you are hooked up to a corporate network and you have been working on a document for the past two hours – or that auction is about to close!
Pricing is a bit of an issue too. Some consumer services out there are charging a lot for monthly subscriptions to mobile broadband. Although a lot of this would be recouped as users could do away with their fixed-line broadband and some providers charge a nasty fee if you go over your usage limits and while that might be fine for a personal service, businesses should look for providers that can deliver mobile broadband as part of a wider remote working strategy. Roaming fees can also be quite high; users wishing to connect abroad should use local WiFi services to avoid nasty phone bills (especially if you are visiting the US where many WiFi hot-spots are free).
There is no doubt that mobile broadband is a very exciting technology and will be one to watch in the future. But it shouldn’t be seen as a replacement for WiFi – each technology has its place and users should spend time establishing what sort of service they actually need before they make the switch.
Work Wise Week—Posted on June 27, 2007
Work Wise Week, designed to raise awareness of the benefits of working flexibly, has just drawn to a close. This initiative and the lively discussion it has provoked in the media show how high flexible working is high on the agenda of both businesses and employees. This is a topic that resonates with staff, who want the option to work flexibly, and with businesses, which recognise the benefits. However there is still uncertainty on both sides about how to make it work.
What is increasingly clear is that flexible working is widely considered to be critical to business success. It is what people want and businesses need to enable it. The law now requires companies to give serious consideration to any request for flexible working. More than that though, companies increasingly recognise that allowing staff to work unconventional hours or to work from home can set them apart in a competitive employment market.
One of the programmes launched this week, the “Work Wise UK Quality Mark“ for flexible working, was introduced by Sir Digby Jones to help companies “improve business productivity” and “recruit and retain the staff needed to do business”. Gartner has said this week that flexible working will only become more important as the next generation, used to communicating via the web, expect flexible working to be a core part of the way we work. Flexible working is a “must have”, not a “nice to have”.
However, despite the enthusiasm for flexible working, there seems to be a lag in adoption. We surveyed SMBs late last year and found that while more than 80 per cent of companies had remote working policies in place, only 45 per cent of employees are taking advantage of the opportunity to work away from the office.
There are clearly some major barriers to adoption and perhaps one of these is our finding that 57 percent of SMBs expect employees to pay for some, if not all, of the technology required to work remotely themselves. Home workers also lack IT support, with out-of-hours support unavailable for 73 per cent of employees working from home. It is clear that for flexible working to be effective, it needs to be properly supported and for employees to be given the same tools that they access in the office. Employers need to follow through – it’s not enough to file the policy, they also need to provide the necessary equipment and the right technical support.
There are “softer” issues as well – employees worry about being out of the loop, losing a sense of team and becoming isolated. Employers worry about management issues – if you can’t see your team face-to-face, how do you make sure they are motivated and performing? This can be a real concern, but it is surprisingly easy to adapt to these working practices. Good management and simple processes like frequent team calls, clear objectives and regular face-to-face meetings maintain morale and motivation.
Many of THUS’ employees work from home some or all of the time or hot desk from different THUS offices. We don’t want to miss out on talented people just because they can’t re-locate, and we don’t want people enduring unrealistic commutes into work. Transitioning to this model needs to be managed carefully, with a lot of support, but it really can work for the benefit of everyone involved.