[IP] A WiMax Update
Begin forwarded message:
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: June 7, 2004 1:20:33 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] A WiMax Update
Reply-To: dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
A WiMax Update
June 7, 2004
<http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/news/article.php/3364141>
Last week, the WiMax Forum announced the formation of a Regulatory
Working Group, tasked with improving availability of WiMax spectrum
worldwide. "The availability of spectrum is mission critical for
enabling mass-market deployments," says Intel's Margaret LaBrecque, the
working group's chairperson.
Michael Cai, senior analyst at the market research firm Parks
Associates, says the group's efforts will be crucial for global
deployment of WiMax technology.
"They need to try to align spectrum policy around the world, because
right now, different countries have different regulations and different
spectrum bands for broadband wireless or cellular networks," Cai says.
"It's a total mess."
New Members
Other recent developments for the Forum include the addition of Alcatel
and Siemens Mobile as members, as well as the departure of Nokia.
Cai says the presence of Alcatel and Siemens is good news for the
Forum. "The argument the WiMax Forum makes is that it doesn't matter if
Nokia drops out--they've got other large equipment vendors," he says.
Nokia's departure, Cai suggests, isn't particularly big news. "Nokia
had been thinking about dropping out for a long time," he says.
"802.16e will potentially compete against other technologies -- and
Nokia has to think about its own 3G strategies against WiMax, since
they already own a lot of cellular technology patents related to WCDMA
and HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access)."
In addition, the Forum recently added an extended FAQ section to their
Web site, which Cai says was sorely needed. "They actually explain the
difference between the different standards, and how the WiMax Forum
thinks the market is going to develop," he says.
Different Flavors
One of the most easily misunderstood aspects of WiMax is the fact that
it actually covers more than one standard. A new report from Parks
Associates, entitled Untethering Broadband: WiMax, 802.20, and Others,
attempts to make this clear. According to Cai, it's crucial to
understand the difference between the two main WiMax standards,
802.16REVd and 802.16e.
"Everybody kind of knows WiMax has two different flavors, and those
are really two different value propositions--but most of the time, you
see people forecasting the WiMax market as if it's only one single
value proposition and a single standard," he says. "I think it's good
to remind the industry that that's wrong."
The easiest way to differentiate between the two WiMax standards, Cai
suggests, would be to call 802.16REVd "fixed wireless," and to call
802.16e "nomadic wireless" or "semi-mobile wireless." An additional
standard, 802.20, may be adopted further down the road, as a truly
"mobile wireless" standard alongside similar proprietary technologies.
Cai says the nomadic 802.16e standard is currently much more relevant
to the U.S. market than 802.16REVd, since fixed wireless is only
appropriate in a few areas.
"In the United States, because the wired infrastructure is so
advanced, only about 20 percent of the households can't get broadband
access today," he says. "So the best target market in the U.S. will be
those underserved markets, and that's pretty small."
Many people, Cai says, believe the two technologies have more in
common than they really do. "What they think is, first you have an
802.16REVd infrastructure, and then in the future if people demand more
mobile data, you can add some hardware and software, and people become
mobile," he says. "But they're really two different markets. Mobile
data is enterprise users and high data users, a very different group
from people in underserved markets."
It's possible that in the future, Intel will offer an 802.16d/e dual
mode chip, just like the Wi-Fi 802.11a/g chips available today -- but
Cai says it really comes down to the market, not the technology. "There
will be a lot of market potential for 802.16REVd in developing
countries where wired infrastructure is not complete, but in the U.S.,
only a small portion of the people will be using 802.16REVd," he says.
Future Challenges
That may change, though, if Craig McCaw's new venture succeeds. Last
week, McCaw announced the formation of Clearwire, a company that aims
to provide a nationwide wireless network using future WiMax
technologies. Clearwire will launch its first commercial services in
Jacksonville, Florida this summer.
Since Clearwire would be almost entirely dependent on 802.16REVd, Cai
says McCaw's company could have an enormous impact on the use of the
technology in the United States. "If he can succeed, then there might
be a good market potential for the fixed flavor of WiMax," he says.
"Otherwise, 802.16REVd will be limited to the underserved markets, at
least in the U.S."
On the other side of the coin, Cai says 802.16e will face some
challenges as well. "802.16e isn't like Wi-Fi," he says. "If you have a
Wi-Fi card in your laptop, that might encourage you to go to Fry's or
Best Buy to buy a Wi-Fi access point, because it's cheap and you can
install it yourself in your home. But you can't build an 802.16e
network by yourself--you need service providers to build the network
for you."
As a result, Cai says, it's important that people not only understand
the various flavors of WiMax, but that they understand the differences
between WiMax and Wi-Fi as well. "Although a lot of people compare
WiMax to Wi-Fi, that's not something we should encourage," he says.
"Wi-Fi is really a consumer-driven business model, while WiMax is a
service provider driven business model."
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