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WiMax: The saviour of rural broadband?

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Broadband

Sally Whittle ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 05 Apr 2004 16:15 BST

Pyramid Research, one of the few analyst groups currently tracking WiMax, believes that four million people will be using the technology by 2008. Revenues from broadband wireless services -- which are mostly based on WiMax -- could top $2.1bn annually by that time.

"We're very confident in the numbers of the industry analysts that say 10 to 20 percent of customers will be served by an alternative access technology such as WiMax," says Zvi Slonimsky, chief executive of the industry's largest WiMax supplier, Alvarion. "This will be a billion dollar market in the very near future."

A billion dollar market?
Alvarion is one of the first companies to bring WiMax technologies to market, with its BreezeMax platform. The platform includes built-in QoS for differentiated voice and data services and a very high spectrum utilisation, making it extremely cost-effective, says Slonimsky. "You get up to 280Mbps per base station -- enough to simultaneously support hundreds of businesses with T1/E1- type connectivity and thousands of homes with DSL-type connectivity," he says.

There are some barriers to WiMax's success. Some observers argue that consumers don't need yet another internet access technology, and that DSL and Wi-Fi are in too strong a position for WiMax to succeed. Currently, DSL accounts for 70 percent of European high-speed internet access, according to Ovum.

One of the technology's limitations is that WiMax isn't designed for mobile use, adds Proxim's Orr. "The price-points and form factors of current WiMax products will not be appropriate for vehicular speed mobility," he says. "In this sense WiMax will extend the coverage area provided by Wi-Fi, as opposed to 3G, which is best suited for high mobility, low data rate applications."

Who needs another wireless technology?
Despite the challenges, Pyramid Research predicts that network operators will spend $5.4bn over the next four years on broadband wireless gear. For consumers and business users, WiMax could deliver increased broadband competition, lower prices, and more freedom. That's a combination worth some consideration.