Like any emerging technology, WiMAX (short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) has taken years to become available to the public. Even so, it took less time than most new wireless technologies. It developed quickly from an idea to a formal standard to real products and services in just a few years. Many chips are now available, and products are beginning to flow. But best of all, several large carriers are beginning to offer broadband wireless services with big rollouts planned for 2008 and beyond.
The standard
WiMAX refers to a broadband radio technology defined by IEEE standard 802.16-2004 and 802.16e-2005. This standard defines an IP-based (Internet Protocol) wireless technology using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) in the 2- to 6-GHz microwave range to provide high-speed Internet access, e-mail, video, and other services. Its potential speed ranges from 1 to 20 Mbits/s, depending on the services offered by the provider. Using cell-phone-like basestations, coverage ranges over several miles.
The intended market for the original 802.16-2004 standard is a fixed service that provides high-speed Internet to areas lacking the usual DSL or cable TV access, like smaller cities and rural areas. It's also useful for backhaul applications like carrying Wi-Fi hotspot data back to the service provider. The mobile version, 802.16e-2005, provides equivalent broadband access while the user is in motion in a car or public transportation.
While Internet connectivity is the target application, WiMAX could carry Voice over IP (VoIP) phone calls, making WiMAX handsets or dual-mode cellular-WiMAX handsets a possibility. WiMAX also will be built into most new laptops, just like Wi-Fi. In fact, most laptops will probably have both wireless technologies.
The competition
WiMAX's main competition in the major metropolitan areas will be the DSL and cable TV companies. But in the wireless space, mobile competition will come from current cell-phone carriers offering 3G cell-phone services. AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon offer 3G (cdma2000 or WCDMA) plug-in modems for laptops, all of which can provide DSL-like speeds in a wireless setting.
As the interest in and adoption of WiMAX have grown, these carriers are now more aggressively selling their 3G data services, which run about $50 to $70 per month. Enhancements to 3G services include HSPA for AT&T's WCDMA systems and Rev. A and Rev. B versions of cdma2000 used by Sprint Nextel and Verizon, and these improvements will give WiMAX a run for the money.
Fourth-generation cell-phone services such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and the Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) enhancement to cdma2000 1xEV-DO will also compete with WiMAX, but they're a few years away (see "And They're Off! WiMAX, LTE, UMB, And The Race To 4GWireless," p. 18).
Wi-Fi is also a competitor-sort of. With hot spots and corporate access points everywhere these days, it's possible to connect to the Internet from most places where people congregate. Municipal Wi-Fi mesh networks have grown in number as well, giving Wi-Fi an edge in the broadband access space. But with that business slowing and Wi-Fi's inherently limited range, WiMAX is expected to find a sweet spot. A WiMAX link will allow far more range flexibility in addition to speed and mobility that Wi-Fi doesn't have.
Impediments to implementation
The key to launching any new wireless business is a good business model. Like cell-phone service, WiMAX requires a major business investment in infrastructure. While that investment is certainly less than a major cell-phone upgrade, it is still huge.
One of the main reasons WiMAX has been somewhat delayed is available spectrum, especially in the U.S. Most of the rest of the world has allocated 3.5 GHz for broadband wireless services. In the U.S., the primary spectrum availability is in the 2.3- to 2.5-GHz range, which is mainly held by the big cellphone carriers. Most WiMAX services will use that spectrum. But in January, the Federal Communications Commission will auction off 62 MHz in the 698- to 806-MHz range previously assigned to UHF TV.
The highest bidders will get this spectrum, and at least one of the winners is expected to offer a broadband wireless service of some kind, probably WiMAX. While WiMAX wasn't designed for this band, making it work there is relatively simple. Benefits include longer range and greater reliability, simply because physics says that the lower frequencies provide the greatest range and penetration. With the spectrum issues essentially resolved, WiMAX is ready for action.
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