Subject: [NEXTEL-1] WiMax standard faces delays

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 06 Apr 2004 04:27:41 -0400

Monday 5 April 2004

WiMax standard faces delays

Demand for proprietary wireless broadband systems is growing quickly,
although the first WiMax equipment will not make it through the
certification process before the middle of next year, according to a
study
by ABI Research.

"The market cannot ignore the momentum behind some of these proprietary
technologies," said ABI analyst Edward Rerisi. "With equipment prices
comparable or sometimes cheaper to those initially promised by WiMax,
the market for these technologies is growing at an incredibly fast
clip."

WiMax is seen as doing for broadband wireless what Wi-Fi did for the
wireless Lan - making it cheap and accessible.
The technology promises an alternative to existing broadband in urban
areas, and is being tested by BT as a cheap way of blanketing remote
rural areas with ADSL- such as wireless services; a later update will
add mobility service for laptops.
WiMax could allow companies to network widely separated facilities
without the need to lay cable or rely on an outside service provider.

Alcatel last week announced its first products using Intel's WiMax
802.16d chipset, which could be the first gear to arrive on the market
when it arrives in the second half of this year. Testing and
certification means it will not be available to the general public until
a year later.

Unlike Wi-Fi, WiMax will need the backing of both large telcos and large
equipment makers to succeed, and at the moment telcos are not rushing to
board the WiMax bandwagon, said the ABI.

Nextel Communications and Sprint, for example, two of the biggest
wireless carriers in the US, are both licensing the spectrum needed to
provide wireless broadband services, but have said they will not wait
for WiMax-standard equipment if it takes too long.

Other telcos are showing a more active interest. BT is running trials of
fixed WiMax in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Northern Ireland, and said
it would investigate the mobile WiMax 802.16e standard when it becomes
available next year. 802.16e is intended to add mobile capabilities to
802.16d equipment with a simple upgrade.

"While many suppliers have pledged support for WiMax, operators' plans
for the technology remains guarded [while] actual spending on
proprietary technologies surges," ABI noted.

Operators are wary of any technology promising a wireless utopia, and
are unlikely to take WiMax seriously until equipment prices have come
down and the technology is proven, said Pyramid Research in a recent
report. "The fixed wireless industry is littered with broken promises,"
said Pyramid analyst John Yunker.

This situation means WiMax will not become mainstream until the end of
this decade, ABI predicted, when WiMax spending will eclipse that of
other technologies. The firm expected the WiMax industry to hit an
annual turnover of $1bn by 2009.
Intel pointed out that the WiMax Forum, the body shaping the standard,
has only been active for about 18 months, noting that it has taken 10
years for Wi-Fi to take off.

"The lesson the industry learned from Wi-Fi is that to make a standard
successful, you need to get broad industry support, and get standards
ratified," an Intel spokesman said.
Matthew Broersma writes for Techworld.com

http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=129741&liArticleTypeID=1&liCategoryID=1&liChannelID=7&liFlavourID=1&sSearch=&nPage=1

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