Wireless Networking May Soon Get Faster. Will Anyone Care?

On this volcanic island at the tip of the Korean Peninsula, where kings once exiled dissidents and tourists now flock to casinos, South Korean engineers recently unveiled a prototype of a wireless network that they hope will revolutionize Internet access.

In August, Samsung, the South Korean electronics company, gave the first public demonstration of its version of the network. One day, the company and others in the industry hope, the network will let users open a laptop anywhere and, without attaching a cable or looking for a Wi-Fi hot spot, immediately surf the Internet or download music and movies as fast as the fastest broadband.

But while Samsung and other companies like Intel and NTT DoCoMo of Japan are spending heavily in a race to control crucial aspects of this evolving new technology and to promote it as the next wave in Internet access, its future is far from certain.

By MARTIN FACKLER

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/26/business/26wireless.html?_r=1&oref=slogin