US Carriers Eager for Mobile WiMAX

By Ed Oswald | Published March 30, 2006, 3:16 PM

While WiMAX has been around for several years, it has seen slow adoption here in the United States. The reasoning behind this, says Aperto Networks' director of product management Dean Chang, is business decisions on behalf of who owns the WiMAX spectrum.

In an interview with BetaNews on the cusp of the CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas, Chang said it is the wireless carriers who own much of the spectrum -- namely Sprint Nextel and Verizon -- and they are holding off for the mobile implementations of the technology. That isn't due until 2007, he says.

However, the promise of mobile WiMAX is a compelling reason for these companies to wait. Instead of the slow uptick in data speeds currently offered through the migration to 3G, mobile WiMAX would offer an immediate boost to several megabits per second -- true mobile broadband.

"You could call it 4G," Chang explained. He said his company, Aperto Networks, sees the promise and likely lucrative business that mobile WiMAX brings. The company currently sells equipment for fixed WiMAX installations, and is planning to move into the mobility sector.

"It's one of the natural evolutions" of the business, Chang added.

The rollout of this technology would be quite similar to the way cellular service spread across the country. Similarly, Chang said businesses would likely be the first targets of any initial WiMAX offering, with services aimed at consumers appearing as cost drops and the nascent technology becomes more widespread.

Pricing would also likely start where 3G services are now -- around fifty or so dollars per month on top of a calling plan.

But just because the major operators are holding out for mobile WiMAX, it does not mean the death of fixed implementations of the technology within the United States. Chang said smaller operators have shown interest in the technology for use in areas underserved by current broadband technologies such as cable and DSL.

Depending on what band is used, one WiMAX tower can serve a radius of anywhere from five to 15 miles, he said. Plus, the cost-effectiveness of WiMAX may prove to be a better solution than large-scale Wi-Fi deployments in cities.

For example, "EarthLink could migrate to WiMAX in order to save money," Chang suggested, as the company would need less base stations.

"With Wi-Fi, you can't guarantee a set speed for your customers," he explained. "However, WiMAX by default supports traffic shaping," which means a provider could guarantee each user a set amount of bandwidth.

In any case, Chang says the technology looks to be lucrative for all involved. Equipment makers would likely make most of their money through the sales of devices needed to connect to these networks. Service providers, meanwhile, would probably end up making much of their revenues through business customers.

"There's room for everyone to make money," he said.

Comments

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Is WiMax coverage gonna be similar to current 3G coverage (on the highway, on the beach) or will it be much more limited? Another way of asking is whether WiMax will only be used for data or will it be legal and economical for Verizon/Sprint to use it for normal voice traffic to be supported on tiny handheld cell phones?

I currently have Verizon EVDO and I LOVE IT!

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In some countries, example Indonesia the bandwith still expensive.
example 512kbps ADSL shared with real speed about 56kbps cost $ 400. yes $ 400, so I think it is opportunity to supply bandwith to Indonesia.
currently more than 1GB needed.

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Good article betanews. I was wondering who was going to control the spectrum for wimax. I know Intel has been pushing it hard. I was hoping it could be something where many ISP's control the ability to broadcast/receive, because I hate cell companies, and revel in the thought that they'll be providing broadband services now.

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More curious to me is why WiMAX hasn't taken off in our less-connected Australia. While the majority of US citizens have cable access, or at least DSL2 (and soon WiFi in many cities), Australians are still limited for the most part to ADSL1 (capped at 1.5Mb). Given the ability for WiMAX to cover large areas with umbrella-like coverage, it seems odd that it hasn't taken off here, in the many, many areas where DSL STILL isn't available, or where it's speed is too restrictive.

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I don't know of any major USA DSL provider that uses DSL 2 technology. Currently if you want DSL that's faster than 1.5 mbps you have to live literaly right next to your phone company's switching office. This means for nearly every USA citizen you have to use cable or fiber optic for your internet connection if you want speeds faster than 1.5 mbps.

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Actually Earthlink is a major USA DSL provider and they have started spreading DSL2 around. Its already in Seattle, Dallas and San Francisco markets. Soon it will be expanding further. However it is true that growth is just beginning not widespread.

WiMAX does sound like a good alternative, especially since most other types of broadband require a corded connection of some type.

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Here is a big Aussie deployment.

http://australianit.news...E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.html

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That's odd. A close friend of mine who lives in Nevada (I'm in California) has a 3mbps DSL connection via AT&T (SBC). That's crap for the Australians. Everyone should be able to enjoy higher speeds.

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