Thursday, June 5, 2008

Whither goes WiMAX? Experts map its future

By Amber Gay

It’s been three years since Intel Corp. demonstrated WiMAX technology at Interop in Las Vegas, providing citywide mobile data access. While attendees may have expected WiMAX to burst onto the scene in large cities across the U.S., the technology has yet to make its mark, with the telecom industry’s eyes focused on delays and revivals in Sprint Nextel Corp.’s attempts to launch its WiMAX-based XOHM service, now scheduled to debut in Baltimore and Washington later this year.

So, what impact is WiMAX likely to have on business and the telecom sector?  Mass High Tech asked New England executives and industry observers what they expect from the technology initiative and Sprint Nextel’s planned rollout.

Vanu Bose
President and chief executive officer for software radio maker Vanu Inc. of Cambridge:

“It is interesting to see the competition between WiMAX and LTE. They have different strengths and different weaknesses and we don’t know which one will win.”
“I don’t honestly think there is one key application with WiMAX. There is this emerging new medium and we don’t know how it will work yet.”
On Sprint Nextel’s initiative: “It will really help to have a larger entity already on board. WiMAX has really pushed the envelope, causing LTE to move faster than it originally was. WiMAX is a competitive threat and it has played a key role.”

Arthur Giftakis
Vice president of engineering and operations for WiMAX Provider Towerstream Corp. of Middletown, R.I.:

“WiMAX will play a large role in the evolution of mobile broadband. Having an open-standards-based solution that utilizes the best antenna technologies, combined with high quality of service parameters will maximize performance and provide the best end-user experiences, no matter what the application may be.

“Since Towerstream focuses on the business market, we have seen an increased demand for high-quality, high-speed broadband services among businesses. As business users demand more and more from their mobile experience, we expect this need for high-quality, high-speed broadband will soon extend to mobile business users as well.  The market is already seeing the need for more data and this will soon move to media based services, including music and video — speed and bandwidth will be vital to make the experience seamless for the end-user.”

“Sprint Nextel and Clearwire are focusing on the consumer market while Towerstream targets the business market. Having a sizable player like Sprint/Clearwire helps to validate the technology and educate the market.” 

Stefan Bewley
Principal of Boston consultancy Altman Vilandrie & Co.:

“At the very least, it will help spur other technology, like LTE its competitor, and push the industry toward mobile broadband, even if they don’t adopt WiMAX.”
On the driving factors for WiMAX: “Mobile Internet and the ability to allow users to experience rich media. So, people will be able to watch high-quality videos and share large files. The primary user devices will be laptops. However, mobile phone and ultra mobile PCs will also benefit from mobile broadband connections. I believe this transition is similar to the migration from household dial-up to broadband — now it’s just mobile.”

Mark Lowenstein
Managing director of Brookline consultancy Mobile Ecosystem:

“It’s a very important next phase for mobile technology. It is the attempt to get close to broadband, which we are accustomed to in our homes and offices. When in a mobile environment, it is important to have a number of technical options.”

“We will need to see the development of a large array of alternative data-centric application development. The bottom line is that it unleashes a new alternate application.”

“First, it is a viable competitor to LTE (the Long-Term Evolution project backed by Verizon Wireless, NTT, Vodafone and others), although over-hyped from the standpoint of performance and economics. It is also a way for companies that are not major players in the mobile value chain, such as the cable companies, to participate.”

 

James M. Connolly, associate editor, contributed to this article.