Rob, there's been a lot of to-and-fro on the advantages/ disadvantages of WiFi/WiMax.
So your responses answer some questions.
Peter has been a strong advocate of WiFi ("WiMax is whatever they say it is"). Not that there's anything wrong with that; I think most observers are aware of the commercial turf war in wireless. But the question that remains is: "So why is anyone buying into WiMax?"
Where licensed spectrum is available, the case for WiMax as an adjunct to existing mobile networks is good. Granted, price points have to move down.
The power usage of OFDM-enabled portable devices still leaves something to be desired, too.
Mobile operators need a way to migrate to all-IP, beyond what was anticipated in IMT 2000. Simply put, they can't handle the emerging paradigm in the way they had planned. Their existing networks can be shaped to handle premium service, but they can't bear the cost and load of future throughput demand when it runs parallel to a discounted wireless market, especially for voice. This is a market that will sacrifice QOS for price.
If they don't find a way to bridge the cost/throughput gap, and the impact on traditional voice revenues, they're in trouble.
Femtocells are another question: depending on range, we should also look at UWB as an alternative. It could be a fragmented market, which takes us back to the question of multimode devices, which takes us to software radio, which takes us to regulatory questions, and so on.
Long-term, multimode devices seem to be the answer, notwithstanding changes in spectrum allocation. At a guess, the user market will look to OEMs to solve the problems, and regulators will move with technological trends set by them.
But as you say, "only if I live long enough!"
Jim |
