Intel, IBM and AT&T create new Wi-Fi company to create public "hot spots" throughout the land:

Intel Capital, along with Big Blue, AT&T and investors Apax Partners and 3i, announced the creation of Cometa Networks--formerly known as Project Rainbow--a new company focused on deploying hot spots throughout the United States. Hot spots are public areas where people can access the Internet using products based on 802.11b, or Wi-Fi, a wireless networking standard with a range of about 300 feet from a network's access points, or radio transmitters.

"Wi-Fi will bring (wireless) computing into the general public environment, leading to increased business productivity and new consumer applications," Lawrence B. Brilliant, chief executive officer of Cometa Networks said in a release Thursday.

Cometa plans to deploy 20,000 Wi-Fi access points in the coming years. Since the company will act as a wholesaler, selling access to carriers and large companies, it will not set pricing for services and will not market itself as a brand name.

Cometa's network and service will be designed to work with the same sign-on procedures, e-mail addresses, IDs and passwords people use on their desktop PCs, so they can move out into the field with a notebook computer or handheld device and continue Web surfing and e-mailing with few hassles. [ZDNet]