WiMAX has generated a huge amount of interest almost from the moment it first appeared on the scene. This important standard for truly broadband wireless access continues to move forward on a number of fronts.
Over the past several months, a host of service providers from all corners of the industry have begun to implement WiMAX or pre-WiMAX solutions, or have unveiled plans to do so. Bolstering those activities, the WiMAX Forum in January certified the first round of fixed WiMAX products to undergo testing for that classification.
As you probably know, a key aspect of WiMAX’s appeal lies in its ability to deliver broadband connectivity without digging trenches and laying physical cable. So it allows incumbent providers a new option to fill in or add capacity to their networks in areas where physical plant can’t be justified. For nonincumbents, like the CLECs, ISPs, search giants like Google that are moving beyond their classic business lines and others, WiMAX offers the prospect to get broadband access to customers without having to rely on incumbent broadband network operators.
But WiMAX is about more than just broadband access. Many folks in this part of the industry believe that the newer, 802.16e version of WiMAX will create the foundation for what are being called “personal broadband services.” Berge Ayvazian, chief strategy officer at Yankee Group Research Inc., which this fall acquired Trendsmedia Inc., the producer of WiMAX World, explains that “personal broadband is a form of high-speed Internet access that you can take with you anywhere you go. It’s not restricted to a geographic location. It’s not something you are leaving at home when you go out in the morning, and it does not degrade in performance when you leave the house.” Ayvazian says that personal broadband will be unconstrained in the range of Internet services and sites the end user can visit, and it will be smart enough to be aware of the location and context in which the user is accessing the network and its applications.
In this month’s cover story (Out of the Lab, Into the Real World), our wireless reporter Tara Seals explores what next-generation broadband wireless services will look like and, more specifically, how Sprint Nextel Corp. — a struggling but pioneering company in the WiMAX arena that plans to spend $1 billion in 2007 and up to $2 billion in 2008 on what it’s calling its 4G mobile broadband network — is building its business around that vision.
For additional information on WiMAX, let me also suggest you check out our new WiMAX eBook, “Riding the Wave of WiMAX,” by visiting www.xchangemag.com/ebooks. This eBook is just one in a series of special reports prepared especially for facilities-based service providers and published exclusively online.
Since we’re talking about WiMAX, I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate the winners of xchange’s Best of WiMAX World Awards, which recognizes leaders in the development and deployment of WiMAX technologies. To see who won and why, check out our coverage of the awards.
Happy Holidays,
Paula Bernier
Editor in Chief
