Barry and Thread, "The Next Big Thing For Wireless?"
businessweek.com
"WiMax is a lot faster than Wi-Fi and has a bigger range -- but success isn't assured
WiMax, it's bound to be a hot topic this year, thanks to aggressive backing from chip giant Intel (INTC ) and support from equipment makers such as Nokia (NOK ) and Alcatel (ALA ). The first WiMax gear should be on the market by the end of 2004.
While Wi-Fi hotspots have a radius of about 100 feet, WiMax uses state-of-the-art microwave radio technology to span distances as great as 30 miles.
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That means it could be used as an alternative to copper wire and coaxial cable for connecting homes and businesses to the Internet. If it flies, WiMax could reinvigorate competition between dominant telecom and cable companies and rivals using a whole new infrastructure -- not just leasing space on existing networks. "This is the next telecom revolution,"
That's just for starters. The real buzz about WiMax is that Intel Corp. is aiming to shrink the technology down to a chip so that it can be built directly into PCs and laptops. ..."If you like Wi-Fi, you're going to love Wi-Fi everywhere," says Sean M. Maloney, general manager of the Intel Communications Group. Pyramid Research LLC of Cambridge, Mass., figures that nearly 4 million people will be using such "broadband wireless" technology by 2008. Revenues from broadband wireless services -- mostly based on WiMax -- could top $2.1 billion annually by that time.
businessweek.com
Excellent article.
One small nit...the 4 million people by 2008 isn't aggressive enough, given the concerningly aggressive counter attack marketing by alternative solutions. I think the 4M should be bumped up to at least 25M by 2008 to get critical mass sooner rather than later since too many people are excited about san diego. i.e. The first one to get critical mass wins?
Regards,
Amy J |
