Yet private networks such as Microsoft's remain protected from unauthorized access through secure IDs and authentication structures supported by the Metricom technology. Metricom's technology must be installed on a locality by locality basis, which means getting permission from local city councils. Wood compares this process with franchise agreements granted to cable-TV providers. So far, the company has wired the entire San Francisco Bay Area and will bring Seattle and Washington D.C. into the system this summer. College campuses, such as Stanford, Berkeley, and Oregon State University, have also been among the first areas included in Metricom's net.
Airports are another priority.
The Bay Area airports are already online, and D.C.'s Dulles and National airports are on the agenda. HP uses the Metricom system at several of its campuses, including one in Corvallis, Oregon. HP employees use the on-campus network when they are away from their desks or are working from home. Croft says the system has saved HP from having to put a second phone line and wire-line modem in employees' homes in order to allow them to work at home. He says that HP employees can connect from anywhere in Corvallis.