Your Guide To Wireless

A New Day for WiMAX?

Once again, Asia has taken the lead in deploying wireless technology but only after a misstep. In April, wireless provider Korea Telecom relaunched its WiBro mobile broadband service (a high-speed technology comparable with WiMAX) in Seoul, South Korea. WiBro gets users online wirelessly even in vehicles moving at speeds of up to 75 mph. The first rollout was met with a collective yawn: It garnered fewer than 1,000 subscribers, primarily because of the small coverage area and lack of device support. But this time, Korea Telecom expanded to citywide coverage and promised new devices. Whatever happens, wireless providers in other countries are taking note. According to Andy Bae, a Seoul-based senior analyst for ABI Research, the tepid response to WiBro’s first introduction caused others to remain cautious. But if the new service is successful, he says, “WiBro can be a good solution for developing countries, in which the providers can simultaneously complete broadband access and voice service over a mobile network.” Stateside, Sprint announced in March plans to launch its mobile WiMAX network in 19 cities by April 2008, enlisting the help of handset makers Samsung, Nokia, and Motorola. But industry watchers remain skeptical about the standard’s effectiveness here. A University of Colorado–Boulder report concluded that one of the most useful applications of WiMAX could be as a “last mile” solution for providing broadband Internet access to rural areas, an opinion shared by Julie Ask, senior wireless analyst for Jupiter Research. Others are less encouraged. “At least today, I’m not very optimistic about WiMAX in the U.S.,” Ask says

Horizon Plans Northeast WiMAX Launch

WiMAX will soon emerge in several northeast U.S. cities, thanks to efforts by Horizon Wi-Com. The company announced plans to launch a wireless broadband service in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Buffalo, Washington, D.C., Richmond, and Cincinnati. “Our objective is to provide wireless last-mile access to residential, business, and emergency restoration markets,” said Horizon’s Ron Olexa, in a statement. “We will start building the network in the first quarter of this year, with a view to ongoing expansion and additional network deployments in the latter part of 2007.” The networks will utilize 802.16e equipment from Navini Networks, including Navini’s Ripwave MX8 platform and its Smart WiMAX solution. Smart WiMAX doubles the data throughput of WiMAX transmissions through the combination of Smart Beamforming with beamformed MIMO (Multiple Input/Multiple Output). [tags]WiMAX[/tags]

Sprint Puts Final Touches On WiMAX Partners

WiMAX is about to get a major shot in the arm on U.S. soil thanks to efforts led by Sprint Nextel, which recently announced that Nokia would be providing key components to Sprint’s upcoming mobile WiMAX network. Sprint had previously announced that Motorola and Samsung would be partnering with the company to help with the network, and now the Nokia news completes the company’s partner announcements. The network is expected to launch first in Chicago and Washington, D.C., with plans for Motorola to oversee the Chicago area and Samsung overseeing Washington. Nokia is expected to provide its Flexi WiMAX base transceiver stations, as well as develop mobile devices (such as phones and Internet tablets) and mobility-focused services and applications. Considering that Motorola and Samsung are also on board with the network, experts say that consumers will eventually see plenty of devices that support Sprint’s WiMAX network. Sprint is spending plenty to get its mobile WiMAX network moving, including up to $800 million in 2007 and up to a whopping $2 billion in 2008, with estimates pointing to 100 million potential subscribers by the end of next year. [tags]WiMax[/tags]

Wimax Wireless

Though WiMax (Wi-Fi combined with the universal signal of cellular) has been slow to gain traction, Sprint Nextel for one has now chosen it as the basis for a “4G” network. The company plans to launch on a trial basis by 2007 with download speeds of up to 4 megabits per second, and to give service to 100 million people by 2008. In late 2007 , Sprint/Nextel will roll out mobile WiMax service (a highspeed wireless technology) in test markets, with the goal of serving as many as 100 million people in 2008. The “4G” service, which will coexist with the company’s current 3G cellular network, will provide 2-megabitsper-second to 4-mbps downstream speed, with 500 kilobits per second to 1 mbps upstream. Peter Cannistra, director of broadband strategy and planning for Sprint/Nextel, says that the 4G network will be faster than any previous mobile service, and that its speed may be suffi cient for use both on the road and at home. To start, the service will work only with hybrid cellular/WiMax handsets and laptops, but Cannistra predicts that WiMax chip sets will become standard equipment in all manner of devices, including desktop computers, routers, and MP3 players. “It’ll just be there, like Wi-Fi today, or like 56-kbps modems were in the past,” he says. Initially, your phone calls will probably still travel on the provider’s existing cellular network. Cannistra says Sprint/Nextel will continue to expand its existing 3G cellular data service (known as EvDO), which will work with certain applications and as a backup to the 4G service. But for consumers who aren’t always on the go and who want more speed, the big news is the fast growth of fiber-optic broadband service. Now available in 17 states in US, fiber-optic service from Verizon and others provides up to 50 mbps downstream and 5 mbps upstream, far faster than most cable and DSL off erings and it’s going to become even faster. “The new equipment we’re installing, beginning at the end of the year, technically allows us to increase upstream speeds for FiOS by as much as eight times over what we do today, and increase downstream speeds up to four times what we offer today,” says Verizon spokesperson Bobbi Henson. Unfortunately, most cable and DSL providers seem focused on delivering content to subscribers, rather than enabling them to upload their own. Mitch Bowling, senior vice president and general manager of Comcast’s online services, says, “We’re aware of that dynamic starting to change,” but Comcast’s upload speeds are still stingy. Verizon’s Henson says higher speeds for its DSL are in the works, but wouldn’t say when. Bowling did say that Comcast has begun rolling out service with 16mbps downstream / 1-mbps upstream speeds in a handful of competitive markets, such as Fort Wayne, Indiana, where Verizon offers fiber-optic service. He wouldn’t say when other areas will get the upgrade, but pointed out that Comcast has increased speeds four times in three years, so it seems likely that more speed boosts will show up in the near future. [tags]WiMax, Wireless[/tags]

WiMAX in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka telecom will partner with chipmaker Intel to launch WiMAX in Sri Lanka. WiMAX is a broadband wireless network that is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard which can give greater coverage than Wi-Fi technology. SLT is planning to deploy the WiMAX network across the island within a year once it gets regulatory approval. The WiMAX network will be launched in phases and the first phase will cover metropolitan areas including Colombo, Galle and Kandy and is estimated to cost about US $1 millio...

Sprint goes WiMax; Wall Street goes flat

There's never a good time to tell investors that you plan to spend about $3 billion on a new technology platform, but it’s really bad timing after a sisappointing quarter. That’s the take-away from Sprint Nextel’s Aug. 8 announcement that it will build a WiMax network with help from Intel, Samsung and Motorola. While Sprint Nextel’s announcement was big news in technology circles, those following the money had mixed reviews. Among the do’s and don’ts cited by observers: Do undertake a big effort with major players riding shotgun. Wall Street analysts said Intel, Motorola and Samsung are high-quality partners that can lend credibility to Sprint’s attempts to build a new network, dubbed 4G, for those following the industry. Why does Sprint need big names behind it? “Sprint is currently being criticized for failure to establish the quality of its network in consumers’ minds and poor handset selection,” said Jeffrey Halpern, an analyst at New York-based Sanford Bernstein, in a research report. Do tell industry watchers about how WiMax can leapfrog the competition. That’s no small issue given doubts that Sprint Nextel can hang tough with the likes of Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless. Don’t hype the impact of WiMax if you have a spotty track record. Halpern said it’s too early to tell if Sprint’s WiMax effort is the equivalent of its ION, which wiped out $3 billion in Sprint’s shareholder value between 1998 and 2001, or Nextel’s Direct Connect, which was a big enough hit to persuade Sprint to buy Nextel. Don’t pitch a new project when the house is burning. The biggest knock on Sprint Nextel’s WiMax announcement is that the company has other issues churn, declining revenue per subscriber, declining gross additions, poor marketing, inferior handsets, and uncertain network integration between Sprint and Nextel to worry about, said Halpern. “Our sense, right or wrong, is that investors would prefer to see management focus on any one (or all) of these issues rather than promoting new services based on unproven technologies that may be available in 2008,” said Halpern. [tags]Sprint, WiMax, Wall Street[/tags]

Multimillion-gate, low power mobile WiMax

Beceem Communications has achieved first-pass silicon success on a multimillion-gate, low-power Mobile WiMAX design using Blast Create, Blast Fusion , Blast Plan Pro, Blast Power and Blast Noise electronic design automation software. Beceem cellular carrier customers are already testing samples of Mobile WiMAX ICs in their next-generation systems. Magma's software concurrently address timing, power, area and noise and incorporates key capabilities, such as design-for-test (DFT) insertion and ...