The more base stations, the wider the network. Until recently, wireless LANs weren't powerful enough to download Web pages or access large files on corporate networks. They were used mainly for tasks like sending inventory data from bar-code readers in warehouses. That has changed in the past year and a half, with the release of an improved transmission standard that theoretically, at least allows data to be sent at up to 11 megabits per second. In practice, the system is considerably slower.
Capacity is shared among users, so the more people who log on, the longer the download time.
Hong Kong's Pacific Century CyberWorks guarantees only 128 kilobits per second for its airport-lounge service at Chek Lap Kok. Service and equipment vendors in the region are seizing the new opportunities. Malaysian telecoms provider TIME dotCom has installed wireless broadband in the coffee shop of Kuala Lumpur's Equatorial hotel. Every customer who buys a coffee gets a free half-hour of Internet access. TIME dotCom expects to bring the service to dozens of coffee shops, restaurants and hotels in Malaysia by the end of this year.