The WiMax Appeal

The WiMax appeal is that it is broadband, and it is wireless, and it can be "spread" over a large area like that of a city, and hence is the only take-you-online-fast technology that can be the internet parallel of what we have in the form of roads for our cars. At the WiMax level, broadband internet can be passed on to the municipality.

It is a young technology, sure. There are all sorts of naysayers. There will be fits and starts, but ultimately it will prevail. Because the vision is so clear: wireless broadband over a large area. The component bits and pieces will be ongoing work. Refinements will be made. But there is no doubting the basic thrust of it all.



Curiously the biggest challenge is not that the technology might not emerge or might not live up to the "hype," but that entreched, rival, old technologies and their corporate patrons might play dirty. The tussle is political. If the market mechanism is driven by consumers, as it should, WiMax will prevail nevertheless.

WiMax Forum

In The News (Google News: WiMax)

• Why would you use WiMax indoors? Techworld.com, UK .... the ebb and flow of WiMax enthusiasm .... a WiMax AP could provide "real" QoS in the home, for things like video and VoIP ..... WiMax LAN chipsets in volume could reach prices near those of 802.11
• Indoor WiMax LANs proposed Techworld.com .... WiMax could have another role - replacing 802.11a on the LAN.
  
• Alvarion Rides the WiMAX Wave BusinessWeek ..... WiMAX, a wireless-broadband technology targeted for the metropolitan area network (MAN) .... "disruptive technology" ..... covering distances in excess of 30 miles at a theoretical shared data rate of up to 75 megabits (Mbps), may actually live up to its billing .... the 802.11 wireless local area network (LAN) standard..... WiMAX, short for worldwide interoperability for microwave access ..... Intel .. has been a major supporter of the technology ..... coming standardization process ..... ubiquitous coverage to rival that of cellular networks...... Alvarion was the clear leader in the broadband wireless access equipment market, with a 31% share, as of March, 2005 ..... Alvarion as best positioned to benefit from our forecast of widespread adoption of WiMAX wireless technology ..... as the industry moves toward WiMAX....
  
• PDA News - WiMax testing, WiMax threatens monopolies, Satellite ... BargainPDA.com .... fully standard-compliant hardware to reach the market around the end of the year .... WiMax is hyped as being the ultimate next-generation solution for wide-area networking ..... WiMax threatens the unregulated duopoly of existing telecom providers. Cable and telephone companies .... Sprint complained to the FCC that to allow WiMax to exist would essentially destroy radio communication as we know it. Nor are they the only players--WiMax would threaten both landline and mobile phone providers, and provide a double-threat to companies like Sprint and Verizon ..... Verizon, Time Warner, and others allied against it ..... Intel, LG, Samsung, and Lucent all backing WiMax .... a corporate war ..... the Community Broadband Act of 2005, sponsored by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), which guarantees the right of municipalities to create their own broadband networks...... PanAmSat claims that they've developed a system to offer live broadcast video over WiMax, via satellite ....less benefit to it than a pure fiber or terrestrial-WiMax solution.... could bring benefits to very underdeveloped areas such as mountainous regions
  
• WiMAX Team-Up PC Magazine got a boost in mid-June, as Nokia and Intel announced plans to accelerate its deployment...... already has momentum in South Korea. The WiMAX IEEE 802.16e proposed standard is to be ratified later this year
  
• ADAPTIX Demonstrates Early Pre-WiMAX Mobile System; System-Level ... Business Wire (press release), CA .... the promise of mobile WiMAX is fast approaching -- it's no longer just a futuristic new technology we simply talk about ..... at throughput of up to 2.5 Mbps traveling at vehicular speeds through the coverage area..... multi-megabit speeds
• WiMax certification process launched Tom's Hardware Guide First WiMax products are expect to hit the market at the end of this year...... Nortel, Microsoft, Disney, Logitech, Cisco, AT&T, AudioCodes, Kencast, Ixia and Skype, showcasing their products and services..... 3G wireless carriers can look at this technology as a tool to offer the equivalent of fixed line services and potentially lower cost data services .....WiMax services are expected to offer a Bandwidth of about 75 Mbit per second and a range of about 31 miles. Commercial services are expected to be become available in 2006. ... first WiMax product may become available as early as late this year.
  
• WiMAX Gets Closer To Reality Digital Connect News (subscription)
• Emerging WiMax technology takes aim at fast-moving target Seattle Times high-speed and high-bandwidth ..... download a large digital file, make a phone call and watch a movie all at the same time ..... encourage compatibility of equipment across vendors to drive costs down..... the systems are real .... By contrast, Wi-Fi is more like a megaphone, where the person closest to the source gets the best service...... how close and legitimate WiMax is .... Some companies have started selling equipment, calling it the precursor to WiMax or pre-WiMax. .... revenues are expected to hit between $2 billion and $5 billion by 2009. Today, pre-WiMax is generating about $500 million in equipment sales....... sending doctors an X-ray of a patient in an ambulance before arriving at the hospital or public-utility crews downloading maps while on the road ..... "Mobility is the future. Anywhere, anytime, any device"
  
• RemotePipes Joins WiMax Forum Unstrung RemotePipes, a leading provider of global roaming Internet access solutions, today announced that it joined the WiMAX Forum™ .... standards-based, interoperable products that drive price and performance levels not achievable by proprietary approaches ..... across global markets deliver economical broadband data, voice, and video services to both residential and business customers .....
  
• RemotePipes, Inc. Joins WiMAX Forum to Collaborate on 802.16 ... Canada NewsWire (press release)
  
• WiMax Router To Launch Early Next Year in Korea Wireless IQ (subscription), NY ... its main AAA platform will be Diameter based instead of RADIUS
  
• LIVE VIDEO TO HANDHELDS AV Interactive, UK WiMAX Forum Plenary, on July 12 and 13 in Vancouver, Canada ....By providing wireless broadband access, emergency personnel such as firefighters and police officers can be in immediate contact with the crisis situation..... WiMAX technology will be incorporated in notebook computers and smartphones in 2006, allowing for urban areas and cities to become "MetroZones" for portable outdoor broadband wireless access.
• Satellite-delivered WiMAX the Next Big Thing? Linux News Intel ... when it first began promoting the technology in September of last year. ....
  
• Live Video Streaming at WiMAX Forum Mobilemag.com
• PanAmSat in mobile satellite tie-up Telecom Paper (subscription)
• Cellular Operators Engaging with WiMAX Telecoms Korea (Subscription), South Korea
• WiMAX Pie in the Wireless Sky PC Magazine I want WiMAX to work. But the delays, confusion, and bickering, and the fact that the duo-polies are rolling out WiMAX, make me think that this may be another technological dead end..... Intel .. WiMAX is "the most important thing since the Internet itself." .... it won't be Intel's flag-waving that will make or break WiMAX, but the vested interests in the United States: the phone and cable companies..... You'll witness the WiMAX initiative being spearheaded by the telcos so they can test-market it and find that either it doesn't work or that nobody wants it. If they can't do that, they'll market WiMAX as an inferior or expensive alternative to cable and DSL, and throw down as many delays and roadblocks as possible. Both entities will lower their prices and jack up their DSL and cable speeds to price any upstarts out of the market.
• Covad Plots 'Pre-WiMax' Service Light Reading Sprint recently said that it plans to launch WiMax services in 2007 ....
  
• A Flower Grows in WiMax Unstrung 3G systems typically use one channel to send and one to recieve, whereas WiMax is a multipath technology. But like all radio networks, WiMax will still subject to interference, range, and capacity problems.