Document Actions
WiMax.com Blog
More Reasons for Optimism in This Week's WiMAX News
Is the global economic outlook getting you down? Does the business section of your local newspaper depress you? Fortunately, there's hope, in the form of a quick Google search: there is plenty of news on WiMAX technology floating around the Internet this week, and most of it positive.
Our first item, from the
Washington Business Journal, announces the final merger of Clearwire Corp.
with Sprint's WiMAX business, Xohm. If you've had your doubts about the
ability of Sprint to pull off a successful WiMAX network, this news might boost
your confidence. Clearwire comes to the table with $3.2 billion in
investments from a group of heavy-hitters in media and telecommunications,
including Google, Intel, Comcast, Bright House Networks, and Time Warner Cable.
Though Sprint and Clearwire have both seen their stock prices decline further
after the announcement of their merger, the final approval of the merger by
Clearwire shareholders is a resounding vote of confidence in the long-term
promise of WiMAX technology, bolstered by the significant investment of a
consortium of industry giants. Google in particular has demonstrated a
pattern of quietly rolling out products which offer the greatest convenience and
value for the consumer, even when their development requires Google to expend
more time, effort, and money behind the scenes. The support of Google and
other industry leaders for the Clearwire/Sprint venture sends a message of
belief in WiMAX as a strong business venture, worth pursuing with billions of
dollars in investments even in the midst of a turbulent financial climate.
More recently, Airspan has offered up another positive news item, announcing
that it has
successfully demonstrated a seamless handover from one frequency band to
another on a mobile WiMAX network in the UK. Airspan's demonstration of
the ability of WiMAX devices to switch between frequency bands with no
interruption in service will undoubtedly make WiMAX even more attractive – and
affordable – for network operators, who will have the potential to build single
networks of two or more frequency bands in order to expand coverage.
Enhanced roaming capabilities may also make WiMAX mobile broadband more enticing
for end users, which can only help carriers to market WiMAX technology as unique
and ground-breaking, and to draw a clearer line between the promise of WiMAX and
the
lingering specter of failed efforts at providing long-range, high-speed
wireless service.
Ari Zoldan
Quantum Networks, LLC
A WiMAX Company
70 West 40th Street
7th Floor
New York, New York 10018
Toll Free +1 877 25 W i M A X
_____
tags:
Sprint Fights Back
AT&T's Apple iPhone and Sprint's Instinct touch phone is not the only rivalry brewing between these two foremost cellular networks.
AT&T has been bullying Sprint for a long time now, trying to prevent the Sprint and Clearwire union from merging both of their assests in order to create a nationwide broadband wireless network.
The only difference is that this time, Sprint is fighting back.
Sprint recently filed a response, declaring that "The New Clearwire transaction presents an unparalleled opportunity to accelerate broadband deployment in the United States."
Furthermore, Sprint has addressed AT&T's false claims against the WiMAX wireless network. They stated that only three parties objected to the Sprint and Clearwire transaction or anticipated conditions. According to Sprint, "Their claims lack merit and provide no basis for denying, delaying, or imposing conditions on the approval of the New Clearwire license transfers."
This 59-page document is full of proofs against the erroneous claims being brought by AT&T, in essence Sprint has put on their gloves and is fighting back to preserve their right to launch their powerful broadband wireless network.
Hundreds of religious and educational institutions have rallied behind Sprint and Clearwire, now Intel, Google, Comcast and Time Warner are not alone. They all realize the importance of a WiMAX wireless network and the great opportunities that could arise as a result. According so Scott Sloat, a Sprint representative, "The transaction poses no competitive concerns, and the public interest strongly weighs in favor of quick Commission approval."
It is interesting to note that as of now AT&T is one of the largest telecommunications company in the world. Hopefully, the commission will reject their complaints and see them for what they are; an attempt to distort the public's view of a powerful broadband wireless network for their own ruthless self-interests.
Ari Zoldan
www.wimax.net
_____
tags:
Clearwire Testing WiMAX in Oregon
So Clearwire has hardware, spectrum, and is well underway in deployment; what's to follow?
The Sprint-Clearwire deal gave Clearwire undeniable credibility in WiMAX development, and the company is moving forward with the technology in a big way. Beta tests are underway in Portland, with "more than 70 percent of [the] WiMAX sites for Portland…in construction or on air." Completion is slated for the end of year, with commercial deployments in that city and 3 others in 2009.
But now they have more than just the hardware; as of July 2nd, Clearwire has leased 3 one-year licenses on the 39 GHz spectrum from IDT Spectrum, 2 of which are in the Oregon-Washington area. You may not have heard much about IDT Spectrum recently, but expect to hear the name much in the near future; they own spectrums nationwide, mostly in the 28 and 38/39 GHz range. As we come upon the dawning age of wireless, the value of spectrum cannot be understated: you need spectrum to do anything wireless–especially for WiMAX, which is contentionless. (That means it can only operate on licensed spectrum because it is built to assume the air is clear. If it isn't, the equipment just doesn't work! Naturally, some companies are trying to develop equipment to change that, but for now, that is the nature of most WiMAX equipment.) Those who bought spectrum when a majority of it was auctioned off by the FCC in the 80s are finally seeing their investment bear fruit, whether they intend to lease or sell – remember the 700MHz auction earlier this year, which grossed a total of $19 billion?
So Clearwire has hardware, spectrum, and is well underway in deployment; what's to follow? If all goes well, 2009 will see Las Vegas, Grand Rapids, Atlanta, and Portland commercial launches as the first four commercial markets for Clearwire's WiMAX service, primed to follow at the heels of the Xohm launches in Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington D.C. in the fall of this year. The start of the WiMAX nationwide buildout is only months away.
Ari Zoldan
WiMAX.net: Your Source for WiMAX Products and Services
_____
tags:
Mobile WiMax is Being Buried Alive?
By their diagnosis, the future of mobile WiMax seems bleak indeed. However, the image they portray may be oversimplified to WiMax’s disfavor
WiMax news has been dominated by a London research firm’s recent announcement that mobile WiMax might be dead on arrival.
“Recent events have been unfavourable toward Mobile WiMAX,” says Frost & Sullivan’s Programme Manager Luke Thomas, referring to Sprint’s delayed deployment of its commercial WiMax network. The firm then focuses on the two aspects of mobile WiMax:
“In terms of indoor wireless broadband, Wi-Fi fits well in this space and with the emergence of 802.11n, which includes MIMO, throughputs would be far better than what MobileWiMAX can deliver…With respect to outdoor mobile broadband environments, users would expect Mobile WiMAX to seamlessly hand off to cellular networks in the absence of WiMAX reception. In reality this is not possible as mobile WiMAX is not backward compatible with existing cellular technologies.” (Centre Daily)
By their diagnosis, the future of mobile WiMax seems bleak indeed. However, the image they portray may be oversimplified to WiMax’s disfavor. For instance, most next-generation broadband technologies will radically change modes of operation, making them incompatible with prior hardware. And before you ask, yes, in this club is the much-championed LTE. So in any discussion of new mobile technology, upgrading existing equipment is almost a given. It’s certainly much more of an industry-wide hurdle than, as Frost & Sullivan make it seem, an obstacle of WiMax exclusively. And already the industry is moving towards a solution, with talks of multimode.
As for the talk of the 802.11n standard of WiFi: last I heard, parts of the standard were still under patent in Australia, and requests for Letters of Assurance were ignored. That’s not a good portent for the standard’s likelihood of approval, as fast as it may be. I’d much rather look to WiMax, which is set to launch in its first large U.S. metropolitan area, Baltimore, in September.
Ari Zoldan
Going WiMAX
_____
tags:
Amsterdam to Enjoy Mobile WiMAX
The new network boasts activation within 2 working days, and a monthly subscription fee, entailing access to unlimited wireless data, of 20 euros a month
If Amsterdam is any indication, mobile WiMAX is already starting to overtake widespread WiFi in large metropolitan centers. Today Worldmax, a privately held Dutch firm, with Alcatel-Lucent, has activated a WiMAX network that covers the hub of the city, providing high-speed broadband to subscribers far beyond the limited berth of WiFi hotspots (Reuters).
This network, termed Aurea, is only a shadow of the scale of deployment the company wishes to have in place within the next few years–by the end of the summer, the entire city; by the a few years’ end, the entire country. The new network boasts activation within 2 working days, and a monthly subscription fee, entailing access to unlimited wireless data, of 20 euros a month. Currently, it needs a WiMAX PC card and USB adapter, but as soon as Intel (a large investor in Worldmax) produces its WiMAX-compatible notebook chips, users will have all the technology they need, right out of the box (Edubourse). Quite the efficient relationship!
Worldmax, Alcatel-Lucent, and Intel intends to showcase their new system with live feeds from taxis and cruise ships at the WiMAX Forum Global Congress, which, in fact, just started today. Whether their network lives up to expectation remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: Worldmax definitely knows how to kick off an event.
Ari Zoldan
Going WiMAX
_____
tags:
