<s>
Net3	B-General_Concept
was	O
a	O
Wi-Fi-like	O
system	O
developed	O
,	O
manufactured	O
and	O
commercialised	O
by	O
Olivetti	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
could	O
wirelessly	O
connect	O
PCs	O
to	O
an	O
Ethernet	O
fixed	O
LAN	B-General_Concept
at	O
a	O
speed	O
of	O
up	O
to	O
512kbit/s	O
,	O
over	O
a	O
very	O
wide	O
area	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
DECT	B-Protocol
standard	O
,	O
published	O
in	O
1992	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
prototype	O
system	O
was	O
first	O
demonstrated	O
at	O
the	O
Telecom	O
'	O
91	O
show	O
in	O
Geneva	O
in	O
October	O
1991	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
believed	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
first	O
public	O
demonstration	O
of	O
the	O
DECT	B-Protocol
transmission	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
product	O
was	O
launched	O
in	O
June	O
1993	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
product	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
DECT	B-Protocol
standard	O
to	O
reach	O
the	O
market	O
,	O
narrowly	O
beating	O
Siemens	O
 '	O
highly	O
successful	O
Gigaset	O
cordless	O
telephone	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
also	O
believed	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
first	O
wireless	O
LAN	B-General_Concept
to	O
be	O
sold	O
on	O
the	O
European	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
its	O
first	O
version	O
,	O
the	O
adapter	O
cards	O
consisted	O
of	O
half-size	O
PC	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
connected	O
to	O
an	O
external	O
desk-seated	O
radio	O
unit	O
of	O
modest	O
dimensions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
second	O
version	O
,	O
launched	O
at	O
Telecom	O
'	O
95	O
,	O
consisted	O
of	O
a	O
PCMCIA	B-Architecture
card	I-Architecture
and	O
a	O
small	O
external	O
radio	O
unit	O
suitable	O
for	O
portable	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
a	O
time	O
when	O
knowledge	O
of	O
commercial	O
digital	O
radio	O
technology	O
was	O
scarce	O
in	O
Italy	O
,	O
the	O
group	O
began	O
research	O
in	O
1988	O
and	O
developed	O
in-house	O
a	O
high	O
level	O
of	O
capability	O
in	O
DECT	B-Protocol
technology	O
,	O
including	O
patented	O
technology	O
that	O
became	O
fundamental	O
to	O
the	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Vighi	O
placed	O
a	O
contract	O
for	O
proof-of-concept	O
DECT	B-Protocol
demonstration	O
systems	O
with	O
a	O
consortium	O
of	O
Italian	O
technology	O
companies	O
,	O
covering	O
the	O
full	O
range	O
of	O
DECT	B-Protocol
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
accelerated	O
the	O
development	O
not	O
only	O
of	O
the	O
Net3	B-General_Concept
wireless	O
lan	B-General_Concept
by	O
Olivetti	O
,	O
but	O
of	O
the	O
FIDO	O
public	O
system	O
by	O
Italtel	O
and	O
of	O
a	O
complete	O
wireless	O
PABX	O
by	O
SELTA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Net3	B-General_Concept
was	O
originally	O
conceived	O
as	O
a	O
means	O
to	O
substitute	O
LAN	B-General_Concept
cabling	O
in	O
problematic	O
buildings	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
especially	O
numerous	O
in	O
the	O
historic	O
centres	O
of	O
Italian	O
cities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
team	O
developing	O
Net3	B-General_Concept
was	O
also	O
deeply	O
involved	O
in	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
DECT	B-Protocol
standards	O
,	O
and	O
contributed	O
the	O
chairmen	O
of	O
the	O
DECT	B-Protocol
standards	O
groups	O
that	O
designed	O
the	O
DECT	B-Protocol
network	O
protocols	O
and	O
the	O
data	O
transport	O
and	O
interworking	O
protocols	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
the	O
DECT	B-Protocol
standards	O
contained	O
a	O
high	O
level	O
of	O
standardised	O
,	O
embedded	O
support	O
for	O
wireless	O
LAN	B-General_Concept
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
product	O
benefited	O
greatly	O
from	O
the	O
availability	O
of	O
dedicated	O
spectrum	O
(	O
1880-1900MHz	O
)	O
throughout	O
Europe	O
thanks	O
to	O
a	O
European	O
directive	O
on	O
DECT	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
from	O
a	O
single-stop	O
type	O
approval	O
process	O
arising	O
from	O
DECT	B-Protocol
's	O
status	O
as	O
a	O
pan-European	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
a	O
very	O
leading-edge	O
product	O
,	O
Net3	B-General_Concept
was	O
nevertheless	O
able	O
to	O
exploit	O
the	O
availability	O
of	O
early	O
semiconductor	O
devices	O
designed	O
and	O
priced	O
to	O
meet	O
the	O
mass	O
consumer	O
market	O
for	O
DECT-based	O
cordless	O
telephones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Net3	B-General_Concept
product	O
was	O
progressively	O
withdrawn	O
from	O
the	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
approach	O
eventually	O
floundered	O
on	O
the	O
difficulty	O
of	O
redistributing	O
signals	O
within	O
the	O
apartment	O
blocks	O
so	O
prevalent	O
in	O
the	O
Italian	O
urban	O
fabric	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Net3	B-General_Concept
team	O
was	O
eventually	O
disbanded	O
in	O
1997	O
.	O
</s>
