The WiMax Future Could be Closer

[HenryTo]

From internetnews.com. WiMax may be closer to us than we think. Long live broadband!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May 31, 2005
The WiMax Future Could be Closer
By Tim Gray

Mobile devices equipped with WiMax (define) cards could hit the streets earlier than initially anticipated, research published today is predicting -- but the product may be more limited than advocates would like.

At least that's what ABI Research analysts are saying.

As the optional specifications built into the 802.16 standard continue to beef up the sensitivity of receiving equipment, WiMax PC cards and built-in receivers are becoming practical for many devices.

However, this first generation may not be as satisfactory as a fully mobile WiMax solution, but it still could be an advantage over current systems, according to ABI Research senior analyst Philip Solis.

"There may be WiMax PC cards on the market earlier than many observers have expected," Solis said in a statement. "These will result from superior chipsets permitting the use of WiMax in laptops and similar devices in homes and offices within the reach of fixed WiMax transmissions. You will not have full mobility as you will with 802.16e, but you will have some portability."

He also said at least two smaller companies, TeleCIS and Sequans, have been designing their chipsets to implement under-utilized options in the standard.

Laptops, PDAs and other portable devices are considered to be optimal equipment for the first-generation WiMax cards.

"Generally, these optional specifications have not been implemented by the largest vendors of WiMax equipment," Solis said.

What intrigues industry insiders is the potential that WiMax brings to a range of wireless options.

The technology supports high bit rates in uploading and downloading from a base station up to a distance of 30 miles. It is hoped by many researchers that WiMax will yield, among other innovations, high-speed Internet access, VoIP (define), and services to rural areas, commercial spaces and schools at a far cheaper cost.

Some wireless carriers and chipmakers have rushed to set WiMax technical standards, testing equipment and checking interoperability with other network components in hopes of laying the groundwork for new devices and services.

As reported by internetnews.com in May, Sprint (Quote, Chart) and Intel (Quote, Chart) teamed on products and services based on the emerging 802.16e mobile WiMax wireless broadband specification.

[rffrydr]

Clearwire getting pulled by Sprint.
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!

[rffrydr]

WiMax gets a launch in Malaysia.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/11/17/business/7441709&sec=business
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!

[rffrydr]

Motorola break-up offers sort of a distressed asset play here:

Carving up Motorola

Published: July 19 2010 14:55 | Last updated: July 19 2010 18:59

[rffrydr]

Cisco drops WiMAX development today as part of it's re-imagining of the internet.
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!

[diesel]

I think WiMax for all its promise will die a slow death similar to CDMA. LTE with its European base will be the technology of choice outside the US. Its all about the roaming.....
_________________
All cats are gray in the dark.

[rffrydr]

According to WiMax Forum’s data:

- Asia Pacific: 237 million people covered and 100 network deployments.

- Central/Latin America: 113 million people covered and 109 deployments.

- Africa/Middle East: 108 million people covered with 142 deployments.

- Europe: 115 million people with 153 deployments.

- North America: 47 million people with 51 deployments.
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!

[HenryTo]

Obviously, the DOA comment came too soon. Sprint is now set to roll out 4G wireless during the first half of this year:

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=17740

[HenryTo]

Verizon expecting to roll out its 4G service in various parts of the US by the end of 2009. It now looks like Sprint's WiMax technology may be DOA:

http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/12/10/verizon.4g.due.early/

[rffrydr]

Dah-Dum:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.infosyncworld.com%2Fnews%2Fn%2F9822.html&ei=qjfwSOrrJaGksQOmytH8Aw&usg=AFQjCNEvoijIB6tEusKfOEMJtB6tQNfNpg&sig2=G15LeJjEzxxlXVux2l6mKw
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!

[HenryTo]

WiMax backers get serious - the new company will carry the Clearwire name and will get a $3.2 billion investment from Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks:

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=11720

[HenryTo]

WiMax backers still very enthusiastic on the technology:

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9925958-7.html?tag=newsmap

[HenryTo]

Cable operators about to endorse WiMax, along with Intel and Google:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WSJ: Comcast, Time Warner May Fund WiMax
Tuesday March 25, 11:45 pm ET
Report: Comcast, Time Warner Cable in Talks to Fund Nationwide WiMax Broadband Network


NEW YORK (AP) -- Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. are discussing a plan to fund a new wireless Internet venture that would be run by Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday.

The partnership would create a nationwide network using WiMax technology, which promises faster wireless Web connection speeds for laptops and cell phones than mobile operators' third-generation networks.

Under the plan, Philadelphia-based Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, would put up as much as $1 billion, while No. 2 Time Warner Cable would add $500 million, the Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Another cable operator, Bright House Networks, would contribute $100 million to $200 million, the Journal said.

Spokesmen for Comcast and Sprint declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press late Tuesday. Representatives of New York-based Time Warner Cable could not immediately be reached for comment.

Sprint, based in Overland Park, Kan., is testing WiMax service in a few markets, and Clearwire, a Kirkland, Wash., startup founded by wireless pioneer Craig McCaw, has its own network based on WiMax technology in some parts of the country. The two companies have been working for months on a joint WiMax venture that would attract funding from WiMax backer Intel Corp.

Google Inc. could also provide funding, the Journal reported.

[rffrydr]

WiMax future may not be WiMax. Spectrum still sells:

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN2425560720080125
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!

[HenryTo]

Sprint insists that WiMax is on track:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sprint says WiMax on track for end-April
Wed Jan 9, 2008 2:01am EST
By Sinead Carew

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is on track to launch commercial services for its next-generation WiMax high-speed wireless network at the end of April, Chief Technology Officer Barry West said on Tuesday.

Speaking on a WiMax panel at the Consumer Electronics Show, West said Sprint would sell the service at reasonable rates with options including per day, week or month, as well as longer term contracts.

But unlike typical phone services, Sprint does not plan to subsidize WiMax devices for customers.

"People will be excited about our rates. They won't be ecstatic about them because we're not going to give it away," said West. WiMax service fees could also be included in the purchase price of devices, such as WiMax-enabled cameras.

Asked about the risks of introducing services based on a commercially untested technology during an economic downturn, West said he was not concerned and had not seen any signs of a pullback in electronics spending so far.

"I really don't see it," West said in an interview with Reuters. "The fourth quarter for the consumer electronics industry ... was different, but it wasn't bad."

Sprint hopes WiMax will help the No. 3 U.S. mobile service stand out from the competitors it has been losing ground to, including AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research).

West said he is talking to operators developing WiMax services around the world to set up roaming agreements that make it easier for customers to use their devices abroad.

"Roaming will be much more like the Wi-Fi world than it will be in the world of cellular phones," he said.

Wi-Fi, a shorter range predecessor of WiMax, is mostly used in laptops today and is commonly available in coffee shops and other public places around the world.

It plans to offer only a data card for laptops and a modem for desktop computers when it kicks off the service, and has no immediate plans to sell phones that include the technology, West said. Other devices will be sold through electronics retailers rather than Sprint, he said.

West said he expects up to 10 WiMax devices to be available at the time Sprint launches its service. One of them is a Web browsing device that Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to sell.

Fred Wright, a senior vice president for Motorola Inc's (MOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) wireless network equipment unit, said his company would have a multimedia wireless device ready for the market at the end of the third quarter or start of the fourth quarter. The device would support voice but calling would not be its main feature, Wright said.

West also said a Korean company that he declined to name would start to sell a dedicated gaming device for WiMax in the first quarter of 2009.

Sprint plans to kick off commercial services in the three markets which have been testing the technology since December: Baltimore, Washington, DC and Chicago.

He would not comment beyond the initial plans as new Sprint Chief Executive Dan Hesse is reviewing future plans amid criticism over the previously announced plan to spend $5 billion on the WiMax network by 2010.

Sprint's initial technology suppliers for the service include Nokia, Samsung Electronics (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research), Motorola and Nokia Siemens, a joint venture of Nokia and German network equipment maker Siemens AG (SIEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research). Chip maker Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is also a big promoter of WiMax.

[rffrydr]

Dislocation of vision:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/55238-disillusion-with-wifi-on-mobile-phones
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!