vnunet.com analysis: WiMax cleared for take-off

WiMax deployments promised by the third quarter of next year

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' recent approval of the proposed WiMax wireless 802.16e standard will pave the way for deployments of the wide area broadband wireless technology by the third quarter of next year, industry experts have told vnunet.com. 

WiMax offers a high speed networking technology operating at speeds of up to 75Mbps at a range of 2km to 10km in urban areas and up to 50km in rural areas.

Although the ratification of 802.16e is a good start, there is still more work that needs to be done, warned Peter Jarich, principal analyst for wireless infrastructure at Current Analysis.

"The standard is really just about the interface. We need to make sure that there is a handoff between cells, and we need to create end-to-end services and build out solutions," he told vnunet.com.

The 802.16e standard adds functionalities to the WiMax standard that enables mobile devices to use the technology. It allows users to move from one radio to another and arranges for regional roaming between service providers.

The technology is being pushed by a consortium of companies led by Intel. The standard's backers consider WiMax an important new wireless technology that can deliver connectivity to rural areas that are out of reach of wired broadband connections, like cable or DSL, and in developing economies.

Intel is working to integrate WiMax radios with its chipsets in a move similar to the Centrino chipset that pushed Wi-Fi.

• The wise man's guide to Christmas shopping
• Win a trip to Las Vegas!

Wireless operators including Nokia have embraced the technology, and the Finnish mobile phone giant has promised to add WiMax support to its networking equipment.

Jarich expects the first WiMax deployments by the third quarter of 2006, although they will be limited to so-called fixed wireless applications such DSL replacement for desktop computers.

The analyst predicted that the first mobile WiMax devices such as laptop cards and WiMax enabled mobile phones will become available by the second half of 2007.

While there is some potential overlap between WiMax and 3G high speed cellular networks, backers typically stress that the two are more complementary than competing.

Jarich pointed out that 3G networks have a head start and are better designed to handle services like SMS and MMS.

But WiMax has gathered a lot of momentum and could move quickly, according to the analyst.

"You cannot take the hype at face value, but there is some validity to that. WiMax will ramp up faster than we saw with 3G when it comes to the ecosystem and services," Jarich said.

Roger Marks, chairman of the 802.16 working group that guided the technology through the approval process, added: "This action brings to a close the work of the Task Group and its project that began with the approval of the original 802.16e PAR in December 2002."

• The wise man's guide to Christmas shopping
• Win a trip to Las Vegas!