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WiMAX Deployments are Occurring Across the US
Numerous carriers are deploying WiMAX technology around the US - and a lot of them are using the new 3.65 GHz WiMAX gear that is now available.
Clearwire is still considered the 800 pound gorilla on the US WiMAX scene. But Clearwire is by no means the only carrier that is deploying WiMAX to meet customer needs. In the realm of licensed spectrum carriers Digital Bridge Communications garnered the distinction of being the first US carrier to deploy a commercially ready mobile WiMAX service based on the 802.16e standard when it opened up Jackson Hole, Wyoming to customers in June.
But also exciting to me is to see so many carriers using WiMAX radios in the 3.65 GHz bands. The 3.65 GHz range has long held promise, especially because of its higher power allotment, the licensed nature of its spectrum and the very low cost of that license ($210). But it has been a band of frequencies in search of a radio solution because there was no gear that met the interference resistant contention protocol the FCC required for it.
But a vigorous lobby effort by WiMAX vendors and stakeholders resulted in FCC approval to use WiMAX in 25 MHz of the spectrum. And the race was on. Vendors could adapt their existing 802.16d fixed WiMAX gear being sold worldwide at 3.5 GHz easily to the US market. Redline won the race by being the first to get certified by the FCC in late 2007. Several other vendors have since joined them in offering radios for 3.65 GHz use.
Now companies like Pipeline Wireless LLC are launching in Boston with 3.65 GHz. Nth Air Inc. is lighting up San Jose and the Democratic National Convention in Denver. And NextPhase Wireless, Inc. intends to blanket Orange County, California with the same technology.
They are not alone. This spectrum is unique in many ways, but perhaps most powerfully so in that it is higher powered licensed spectrum, for very little money and WiMAX technology can be used for it. And the license requirements are so flexible it can be deployed almost as freely as unlicensed spectrum solutions.
I think this is a very important trend for the independent regional broadband wireless carrier.
Tim Sanders
www.TheFinalMile.net
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