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WiMAX Summary Report

WiMAX is an exciting new technology that promises a lot of growth. With the demand of increased broadband, flexibility and QoS, the idea of WiMAX has captured the world. Initially thought by many to be a technology to replace traditional copper line deployment in developing markets, many soon realized the potential of what WiMAX had to offer the world.

While the idea was introduced in 2001 under the name of WirelessMAN (WiMAX Wiki, 2007), this fixed, line-of-sight technology quickly began to intrigue individuals to the potential of the technology they were developing. In 2004, at the WiMAX World USA event, 600 people looked at this intriguing new technology that was still undergoing changes (WiMAX World, 2007). In three short years, WiMAX progressed from a fixed, line-of-sight technology with few product applications, to a mobile/fixed non-line-of-sight technology with major interests from multi-billion dollar firms such as Sprint, Motorola and Intel. At the 2007 WiMAX World USA event, more than 10,000 visitors, 250 exhibitors and 350 corporate sponsors participated in this event (WiMAX World, 2007). On October 19th, 2007, the ITU-R (International Telecommunication Union Radio Communication Sector) selected WiMAX to be part of the IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications-2000) specifications (IMT-2000 Wiki, 2007). IMT-2000 is a global standard for third generation wireless communications. By adding WiMAX to the IMT-2000 specifications, this international organization has solidified WiMAX’s future in the computer industry.

WiMAX is not a U.S. limited technology. More than 56 countries around the world are working at testing and deploying WiMAX in their countries (Deployed WiMAX Wiki, 2007). While that might seem to be a large amount, many of these countries have yet to deploy a functional WiMAX network to consumers, but are still in the testing phase of the deployment. There are over 10 companies within the United States that are working on deploying WiMAX. The largest three WiMAX developers in the United States are Sprint Nextel, Clearwire and Towerstream. Both Sprint and Clearwire intend to deploy WiMAX installations over the entire continental United States, targeting mainly residential customers. Towerstream is another developer that is deploying in major cities around the United States with the intentions to offer service to small, medium, and large corporations.

The U.S. market though is not without its difficulties. Many operators are encountering holdups as they wait for the United States Government to auction more spectrum. Also, the major two corporations responsible to deploying WiMAX to residential users in the United States, Sprint and Clearwire, just announced the termination of their letter of intent to build a nationwide WiMAX network that was just signed in July (NetworkWorld, 2007). Sprint’s CEO Gary Forsee, who oversaw Sprints $5 billion investment in WiMAX technology was asked to step down from his position. While both Sprint and Clearwire are still intent on deploying a nationwide WiMAX network, it is not going to be able to reach the previously targeted deadline of 2008. Although this is can seem to be a step backwards in the development of WiMAX, many analysts think that at worst, it is just going to take longer than originally anticipated. Philip Solis, an analyst for ABI Research thinks that this might actually help the future of WiMAX in the United States because Sprint might be spinning off the WiMAX portion of the company. This would allow the new WiMAX portion of the company to focus on its own goals without having to worry about financial pressure from the parent company as well as gaining investments from forward-looking investors (NetworkWorld, 2007).

While initially, the idea of WiMAX was for fixed services only, the future applications have expanded far beyond this area. Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor company and maker of computer processors has developed a strong interest in the future of WiMAX. They have already begun manufacturing WiMAX Add-in Cards for laptops, and in 2008, Intel laptops will offer embedded WiMAX modules (Intel, 2007). Intel has seen the possible potential for WiMAX and with its standing in the world market, is helping push this new technology to become a new standard of mobile internet. Analysts expect a range of WiMAX services to result thanks to Intel’s support (BusinessWeek, 2007). With WiMAXX revolutionizing the mobile broadband industry, it will cause massive upgrades worldwide as a result. People that do not have WiMAX will want to buy hardware that supports it, and for new buyers, WiMAX will be a high selling point for new merchandise. As these emerging markets are yet to unfold, the investment possibilities are very lucrative.

Motorola is another industry leader that is investing heavily in WiMAX. Motorola recognized the demand for this new technology and is adding WiMAX capability into many of their new mobile PDA’s, handsets and PC cards. Another aspect that the company is promoting is WiMAX services that offer design, installation, optimization, management and customer service solutions for companies as well as residential households (Motorola, 2007). Motorola itself is manufacturing these devices in addition to offering the services that go along with their hardware. Motorola’s approach is the same as when Bluetooth was rolled out several years ago in that Motorola is designing the majority of their new hardware with WiMAX support already integrated into their systems.

Future developments of WiMAX consist of achieving even higher rates of speed for both fixed and mobile technologies. For mobile devices, the goal is 100 Mbit/s from the current 70 Mbit/s, and fixed WiMAX’s goal is 1,000 Mbit/s from the current 72Mbit/s (WiMAX Wiki, 2007). This will further increase demand for WiMAX because the amount of bandwidth is much farther ahead of any current mobile internet solutions. Many car manufactures are experimenting with WiMAX equipped cars. The manufactures are taking a unique approach to the use of WiMAX, instead of using wires to relay information on how the car is running, they are using WiMAX to send information from the sensor arrays right to the drivers display (Intel, 2007). Car manufactures are also exploring the possibility of using WiMAX to work with the built in computers inside the car to allow the users to listen to music, play movies or receive e-mails (WiMAX, 2007).

As can be seen, WiMAX is an incredibly useful technology that has tremendous potential in the coming years. With industry giants like Intel and Motorola making WiMAX a standard in their new equipment, the future of WiMAX is bright. No longer will people have to wait to find a local “hot-spot” to get online, but will have the ability to use it virtually anywhere, whether they are sitting in a restaurant, driving in their car, or sitting in their living room. With the industry as new as it is, this technology has tremendous potential for investors over the coming years.

Works Cited
BusinessWeek, Intel's WiMAX: Like Wi-Fi on Steroids. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from BusinessWeek Web site: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_17/b3930072_mz011.htm
Intel, Venturi incorporates WiMAX. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from Intel Web site: http://www.intel.com/cd/corporate/pressroom/emea/eng/247190.htm
Intel, WiMAX Broadband Wireless Technology. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from Intel Web site: http://www.intel.com/netcomms/technologies/wimax/index.htm
Motorola, Motorola WiMAX. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from Motorola Web site: http://www.motorola.com/content.jsp?globalObjectId=5873-9057
NetworkWorld, Sprint, Clearwire call off WiMAX plans. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from NetworkWorld Web site: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/110907-sprint-clearwire-kill-joint-wimax-project.html?page=1
Wikipedia, IMT-2000. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMT-2000
Wikipedia, List of deployed WiMAX networks. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Deployed_WiMAX_networks
Wikipedia, WiMAX. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiMAX
WiMAX, WiMAX for Cars?. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from WiMAX Web site: http://www.wimax.com/commentary/blog/blog-2006/blog11072006mw1
WiMAX World, WiMAX World USA. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from WiMAX World Web site: http://usa.wimaxworld.com/