Cisco launches public-access specialisation

Networking giant to offer resellers training, products and support

Cisco has introduced a new programme for resellers bidding to increase their sales in the wireless public-access market.

The networking giant's Public Access Specialisation is for value-add resellers (VARs) focused on the planning, design and implementation of equipment for high-speed access in public areas. Cisco will offer training, products and support.

Paul Salmon, Cisco's director of technical operations, channels and alliances, said: "This will help partners differentiate themselves, pursue new markets and migrate to higher-margin sales."

Greg Carlow, managing director of VAR Repton Computers, said Cisco specialisations were expensive but that one big deal resulting from the investment would pay for it 10 times over.

"Cisco is always looking at new areas, and this is logical," he said. "We have not seen a stampede among our customers for public-access technology; this is about the future. Customers are still reducing their spending."

But Keith Humphreys, analyst at EuroLAN Research, suggested that wireless hotspots will take off in certain environments only if the method of charging customers is resolved.

"I think hotspots will be pervasive only in places where people spend time, such as hotels and airports," he said. "This will only work if it is on a pay-as-you-go model."