Fixed Wireless Equipment

Printer Tech Company Seeks WISP and Hotspot Operators

A new value-added service will soon be available for wireless service providers.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [August 23, 2004]

Silex Technology, based in Osaka, Japan, was founded in 1973, specializing in printer technology. Its U.S. subsidiary, Silex Technology America, was founded in 1991 to take advantage of a major change within the company.

"We were the first print server manufacturer to introduce print servers into the Japanese market," explains David Smith, president of Silex Technology America.

This year, the company is developing technology that it expects will be of interest to WISPs and hotspot operators, specialized print server technology the company calls WiPrint.

The project calls for seamless download of the necessary printer drivers for a mobile user at a hotspot. Explains Smith, "at a hotspot, sometimes the laptop will find the printer but not the driver."

A Silex box will contain the necessary driver, and will download the driver to the laptop without end user interaction. The upshot is that the hotspot user doesn't need to deal with driver installation, beyond clicking on a button to start the download.

But there are still some details to work out. The appliance creates a log file showing all activity, but billing will require some customization. "We've got engineers to help the integrator set up the box," says Smith. "And we can develop custom screens if asked."

The box, due to be released in Q4 of this year, doesn't even have a price yet, but for a good reason: the company wants to be flexible. "We want to talk to integrators and ISPs and find out whether they want to buy or rent or whatever," explains Smith.

Right now, the company is trying to talk to as many potential customers as possible. "We're geared for working with a large carrier like T-Mobile or a small ISP providing community services. We could even work with a public library," says Smith.

Any interested ISP should contact him immediately through the website. "We welcome calls from ISPs that would like an evaluation unit. It's an early test case opportunity. We would also welcome a beta test for a specific application."

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