The Internet of the future should be a worldwide marketplace fully accessible by mobile cu

stomers everywhere, the leading networking specialists and content providers all agree.

Yet any number of pitfalls lie ahead for the worldwide data network. Current networking technology has allowed only limited mobile access up until now. A small Finnish firm, however, is promoting a solution to connect portable devices—cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), or laptops—reliably and securely to the Internet.

"Access to the World Wide Web will eventually be as foolproof as telephoning is now," says Panu Pietikaeinen, chief executive officer of Firma NetSeal Technologies of Espoo, Finland.

While the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) radio network spans the globe, only small bits of data can be transmitted over it. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) can handle broadband traffic, but only within their local transmitting area. That's mainly why new wireless transmission techniques such as Bluetooth can send data without at cables, but only up to a distance of about ten meters.

Until now, any user who wanted to move between coverage areas would tediously have to close the old connection manually and then dial in again to the new network. RoamMate software will automate the process by establishing a mobile, secure Internet connection without the user having to give any thought to infrastructure concerns such as cover age areas.

"This kind of software, if it really works, would certainly be in line with our business goals," says Carsten Meincke of AOL, the world's largest online service provider.

Meincke sees the latest technological developments as headed toward uninterrupted Internet access anyway, whether it's from a car, a cellphone, or other portable devices. "We need to free ourselves from the idea that only one kind of device can get us online."

"There's certainly been no intelligent software of this type until now," says Andreas Guggenbichler of 3Com, the U.S.-based networking firm. "If I really didn't have to think anymore about which channel is best suited at any given moment to build a connection-whether to a local network or the Internet-it would make portable devices much easier to use," Guggenbichler, himself an expert in networking and Internet telephony, argues.

For the first time, RoamMate allows every user to get on the Internet in the same way they use their cell phone," says Pietikaeinen. A mobile Internet connection would resemble a cell phone connection.

Cell phone users don't worry about which phone company is providing network access when they're on the road; telephone companies have struck agreements to assure their customers interruption-free service. The phone automatically looks for the right provider as the user changes coverage zones, without interrupting the call.

Down the road, all mobile devices will work in the same way. RoamMate supports all current transmission technolo gies, such as ISDN, GSM, Bluetooth, local networks (LAN, Local Area Network), WLAN, modem, and even the antici pated mobile radio standard GPRS.

An Internet IP address, not a phone number, would then become the user's permanent identification code. The software, installed in the mobile units as well as in the servers of participating companies and Internet service providers, would take care of managing the addresses.

The new invention is already in place at Avecra the firm which runs the dining cars for the Finnish railways. RoamMate enables communication with or without a cable connection, so that the company's workers can get onto the company's priyate intranet during the trip.

After four years of development time, Pietikaeinen and his associate Juhani Talvela are now seeking out cooperative partners around the world to help put to work their (self-proclaimed) trailblazing software.

A．a new method to access to the Internet is on the way

B．a new technology to connect with Internet has been created and seeking the cooperation to enter the market

C．disadvantages of old ways to access to the Internet

D．new tendencies in the fields of mobile communications