Telia Mobile
and Hewlett Packard
are running a promotional campaign to convince business travelers that wireless is the only way to go.
For the next six weeks, all passengers passing through Stockholm`s Bromma Airport can participate in the “Fly & Try” project and borrow a wireless PDA or a W-LAN card. They will also get a free 24-hour subscription to HomeRun, Telia`s mobile service.

Everyone taking part in Fly & Try will have the chance of winning a portable HP Jornada 928 (a PDA with a built-in GPRS element), plus a W-LAN card and Telia HomeRun subscription.

“The aim of Fly & Try is to demonstrate, primarily to business travelers, how a mobile solution can facilitate and streamline their working day,” said Mats Salomonsson, acting head of Telia Mobile Sweden. “With Telia HomeRun, your waiting time at the airport will be turned into efficient working time, because it allows you to link up to your office and gain access to data regardless of where you are.”

HP introduced the Jornada 928 WDA (wireless digital assistant) at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes
, France, two months ago. The handheld device is described as the first full-color GSM/GPRS integrated PDA and phone combination based on Microsoft`s Pocket PC Phone Edition software. It manages voice, data and personal information, and connections to the Internet and e-mail.

Available this summer, the HP Jornada 928 WDA uses Texas Instruments` new OMAP710 integrated GSM/GPRS modem and application processor and integrates the functions of a full-color Pocket PC with those of a GSM/GPRS enabled phone. HP entered into a working relationship with Orange to begin testing the voice and data services of the HP Jornada 928 WDA on its network to ensure a seamlessly integrated solution for the mobile professional.

“HP has a long history of success in the telecom, consumer device and enterprise markets providing network operators with the tools to create new revenue opportunities,” said Marco Limena, worldwide director of marketing HP Network and Service Provider Business Unit.

Telia HomeRun permits mobile, wireless broadband connection in locations such as airports, hotels, conference halls, roadside inns, cafes, and workplaces or at home. With what is known as a W-LAN card in the computer and a HomeRun subscription, users can link up to the Internet or their own corporate intranet. Telia HomeRun is currently installed at more than 400 locations all over the Nordic region, as well as a number of locations in Europe and the USA.

With Telia HomeRun business travelers can have a transmission capacity of up to 11 Mbit/s, which is faster than most Internet services available today.
In October 1999, Telia launched its wireless broadband service HomeRun. The primary target group for HomeRun is business travelers. A recent survey made by the magazine Affärsresenären indicated that the IT standard of the hotel is important to the business traveler who wants to make the best use of travel time. As many as 87% of the participants of the survey said they want to be able to send and receive e-mail at their hotel.

“Business travelers are a very important target group to us, since they have great need of mobile services,” said Lars Karlsson, marketing director of Telia HomeRun. “Many travelers want to connect to their company`s intranet, or send and receive e-mail, while on a trip, and we see an increased demand for our wireless broadband services from several hotel chains.”

The new service will enable the passengers to connect their personal laptop computers to an e-mail server and Internet server on board the aircraft, using wireless communication. When connected, the traveler will be able to send and receive e-mail, and access different Internet portals during the trip. The e-mail server on board has a radio connection with the ground when the plane is airborne. The content of the Internet server on board is transferred and updated when the plane is on the ground.

Related stories on ITN:

(29/01/2002) Siemens launches TravelAngel mobile application

(29/10/2001) Air2Web Launches Mobile E-mail Platform

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