Monday, April 18, 2005
Will Wi-Fi On Steroids Win the Last Mile?
There is a lot of media attention today to Intel's announcement of its new WiMax chip, but I like Business Week's lead best- Intel's WiMax: Like Wi-Fi On Steroids . It's a good analogy because Intel plans to combine both WiFi and WiMax functionality on the same chip by 2007 and to use WiMax now to open up a large global market for very high speed wireless communications. A key starting market will be areas that do not get cable or DSL broadband services today - i.e. much of rural America, including the Endless Mountains of NE PA. That gap between rural homes and the superfast fiber-based Internet is the "last mile" that many telecommunications companies are racing to fill.
Currently, WiFi nets are cheap and easy to buy and set up for home use or to connect your laptop to a public 'hotspot' like Starbucks. WiFi provides high bandwidth connections for about 100 or so feet; and that fine for a home net or a library. But you still need to get a fast internet connection to your home; and many of us don't have that. WiMax offers Broadband speeds of over 70Mbps for over 30 miles. Standard DSL (phone line) and Cable broadband connections are in the 0.3- 1.0Mbps range; and these are not available to subscribers who are not within 3 miles of an upgraded switch (DSL) or a few 100's of feet from an existing cable drop. The expense of ugrading switchs and lines and/or running new lines and coax is why we rural dwellers lack these services. WiMax should be a relatively inexpensive way to extend service to rural folks. And that is part of the Intel strategy for marketing their new chip. As Business Week puts it Intel :
" had to bring on board telecom companies, which aren't traditionally Intel customers: They're the ones who will sell the service. So the chipmaker created a WiMax forum with such heavyweights as SBC, Sprint, and Nokia to hammer out common standards for its chips. ... (initially, it) will be used to bring high-speed Internet to homes and businesses that lack service. But in a couple of years, WiMax will go mobile, allowing people to download movies, games, and other content without being tethered to a local hot spot, as Wi-Fi requires. ....
For consumers, WiMax could shake up the broadband world by helping to eliminate the cable and DSL duopoly that dominates the market. That could lead to lower prices and higher speeds. Upstarts could use WiMax to break cheaply into incumbents' markets. Clearwire, for example, has introduced a precursor to WiMax in four cities in Florida, Texas, and Minnesota; ....
Big players will be able to enter each other's territories, too. For example, in February a Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ ) subsidiary, Verizon Avenue, began offering a WiMax-like service in Monterey, Calif., a market currently served by rival SBC. "
Some technical aspects are in this Internet News article that also notes :
"Intel also touts WiMAX as a last mile alternative to remote areas not currently served by DSL or cable, as well as making it possible to wirelessly connect buildings up to several miles apart.
The opportunity for 802.16 equipment is forecast to reach a value of approximately $1 billion in 2008, according to a recent study by Visant Strategies. The report, entitled 802.16/WiMAX Technologies: World Market Forecasts 2003-2008, found last mile access will be the first application for 802.16a, but mobility will follow via 802.16e. .....
Some of the carriers working with Intel to enable a broad ecosystem around WiMAX include AT&T, Altitude Telecom, British Telecom, Brasil Telecom, ETB out of Columbia, Iberband, Millicom, Qwest, Sify, Speakeasy, Telkom, Telmex, TowerStream, and UHT out of the Ukraine. "
That's an impressive line-up of international partners ; and they also mention that the chip includes features for VoIP(Voice over Internet Protocol), which means you will be able to use a WiMax connection for phone calls over the internet. While the first version is for fixed sites, the second version (2007) will include mobile applications. The market for WiMax is expected to grow from $1Billion in 2008 to over $20Billion by 2015. This potential may explain why phone companies are so heavily involved in the WiMax technology and standards.
The New York Times notes that : " Scott Richardson, manager of Intel's broadband wireless division, said that more than 100 commercial WiMax tests were under way. He said he expected the service to become available more widely starting in about 18 months on a city-by-city basis.
"Initially, the technology will be deployed where cable and D.S.L. don't exist," Mr. Richardson said. "Our view is this technology and broadband helps connect the next billion users." "
And InformationWeek provides another good summary, adding information about current experiments in the US Army as well as some market data : "The market for fixed, or single-location, wireless services, including Wi-Fi and WiMax, is expected to reach $12.4 billion by 2010. ..... The WiMax Forum, an industry association, has finalized specifications for fixed WiMax (802.16d) and plans to begin testing equipment for certification this summer. The forum is still working on specs for mobile WiMax (802.16e), which will enable use by people walking down the street or traveling in cars. ....
The U.S. Army is testing prestandard WiMax gear from Telos Corp. at bases such as Fort Carson in Colorado for point-to-point and point-to-multipoint communications. .... Telos says the technology is being used to extend the Army's wired network to hard-to-reach places. The system provides speeds of up to 72 Mbps at a range of 50 miles in point-to-point mode or 15 miles in point-to-multipoint mode."
I am particularly heartened by this statement in Information Week which is the key point and the best hope for us in rural America to get broadband services soon :
"Local phone company BellSouth sees WiMax as a promising technology that "enables us to fill in the gaps in our DSL coverage to extend broadband services to rural areas and in the future introduce new and unique wireless services to complement our wireline services," says Mel Levine, director of product development at BellSouth's science and technology division."
Let's hope it is so. WiMax for the "last" mile sounds good to me.
Currently, WiFi nets are cheap and easy to buy and set up for home use or to connect your laptop to a public 'hotspot' like Starbucks. WiFi provides high bandwidth connections for about 100 or so feet; and that fine for a home net or a library. But you still need to get a fast internet connection to your home; and many of us don't have that. WiMax offers Broadband speeds of over 70Mbps for over 30 miles. Standard DSL (phone line) and Cable broadband connections are in the 0.3- 1.0Mbps range; and these are not available to subscribers who are not within 3 miles of an upgraded switch (DSL) or a few 100's of feet from an existing cable drop. The expense of ugrading switchs and lines and/or running new lines and coax is why we rural dwellers lack these services. WiMax should be a relatively inexpensive way to extend service to rural folks. And that is part of the Intel strategy for marketing their new chip. As Business Week puts it Intel :
" had to bring on board telecom companies, which aren't traditionally Intel customers: They're the ones who will sell the service. So the chipmaker created a WiMax forum with such heavyweights as SBC, Sprint, and Nokia to hammer out common standards for its chips. ... (initially, it) will be used to bring high-speed Internet to homes and businesses that lack service. But in a couple of years, WiMax will go mobile, allowing people to download movies, games, and other content without being tethered to a local hot spot, as Wi-Fi requires. ....
For consumers, WiMax could shake up the broadband world by helping to eliminate the cable and DSL duopoly that dominates the market. That could lead to lower prices and higher speeds. Upstarts could use WiMax to break cheaply into incumbents' markets. Clearwire, for example, has introduced a precursor to WiMax in four cities in Florida, Texas, and Minnesota; ....
Big players will be able to enter each other's territories, too. For example, in February a Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ ) subsidiary, Verizon Avenue, began offering a WiMax-like service in Monterey, Calif., a market currently served by rival SBC. "
Some technical aspects are in this Internet News article that also notes :
"Intel also touts WiMAX as a last mile alternative to remote areas not currently served by DSL or cable, as well as making it possible to wirelessly connect buildings up to several miles apart.
The opportunity for 802.16 equipment is forecast to reach a value of approximately $1 billion in 2008, according to a recent study by Visant Strategies. The report, entitled 802.16/WiMAX Technologies: World Market Forecasts 2003-2008, found last mile access will be the first application for 802.16a, but mobility will follow via 802.16e. .....
Some of the carriers working with Intel to enable a broad ecosystem around WiMAX include AT&T, Altitude Telecom, British Telecom, Brasil Telecom, ETB out of Columbia, Iberband, Millicom, Qwest, Sify, Speakeasy, Telkom, Telmex, TowerStream, and UHT out of the Ukraine. "
That's an impressive line-up of international partners ; and they also mention that the chip includes features for VoIP(Voice over Internet Protocol), which means you will be able to use a WiMax connection for phone calls over the internet. While the first version is for fixed sites, the second version (2007) will include mobile applications. The market for WiMax is expected to grow from $1Billion in 2008 to over $20Billion by 2015. This potential may explain why phone companies are so heavily involved in the WiMax technology and standards.
The New York Times notes that : " Scott Richardson, manager of Intel's broadband wireless division, said that more than 100 commercial WiMax tests were under way. He said he expected the service to become available more widely starting in about 18 months on a city-by-city basis.
"Initially, the technology will be deployed where cable and D.S.L. don't exist," Mr. Richardson said. "Our view is this technology and broadband helps connect the next billion users." "
And InformationWeek provides another good summary, adding information about current experiments in the US Army as well as some market data : "The market for fixed, or single-location, wireless services, including Wi-Fi and WiMax, is expected to reach $12.4 billion by 2010. ..... The WiMax Forum, an industry association, has finalized specifications for fixed WiMax (802.16d) and plans to begin testing equipment for certification this summer. The forum is still working on specs for mobile WiMax (802.16e), which will enable use by people walking down the street or traveling in cars. ....
The U.S. Army is testing prestandard WiMax gear from Telos Corp. at bases such as Fort Carson in Colorado for point-to-point and point-to-multipoint communications. .... Telos says the technology is being used to extend the Army's wired network to hard-to-reach places. The system provides speeds of up to 72 Mbps at a range of 50 miles in point-to-point mode or 15 miles in point-to-multipoint mode."
I am particularly heartened by this statement in Information Week which is the key point and the best hope for us in rural America to get broadband services soon :
"Local phone company BellSouth sees WiMax as a promising technology that "enables us to fill in the gaps in our DSL coverage to extend broadband services to rural areas and in the future introduce new and unique wireless services to complement our wireline services," says Mel Levine, director of product development at BellSouth's science and technology division."
Let's hope it is so. WiMax for the "last" mile sounds good to me.
