re: WiMax: What's Working NowAn excellent article on the deployments which have happened so far. But the true picture lies in the numbers. For example in India alone, BSNL,Tata Communications and Reliance have committed more than $500 million each already. If you really want to see, how WiMAX is working, you need to focus on Asia where the networks are up and running. Stunning demos of WiMAX applications including streaming TV and Gaming were shown at Broadcast Asia 2008 this year. In fact I believe that XOHM, for some reason has become the barometer of the progress of WiMAX in the World, which is far from being true. In fact the delays have given the competing camps of LTE a reason to challange the very technology itself.
However the real reason of writing this piece is to point out that unlike the US the regulators in other countries have only recently started allocating spectrum for WiMAX and there is no doubt that the funds which will be committed to this technology will rise over ten fold in the next two years solely for the reason that it was not possible to invest even if one wanted to do so in the absence of resources.
Fortunately those days are over now and Mobile WiMAX is rolling ahead swiftly with network rollouts and fall in the prices of Chipsets which go in the CPEs and consumer devices.
The Chipsets for WiMAX comprising of the Baseband SoC and the RF Chipset have fallen in the range of $30-40 from over $100 a year back and the projections based on volumes of shipments are likely to take these to Sub $10 levels. At these levels the WiMAX chipsets will be as competitive and hence ubiquitous as the WiFi modules installed almost universally in all mobile devices.
This is not surprising considering that the global subscribers of Mobile WiMAX will exceed 100 million by 2012 and the market for WiMAX services will be worth $5.5 Billion as against just $58 million in 2007.
For LTE, it should suffice to say that with the approval of standards by ITU, their clock begins now against Mobile WiMAX in 2005. Finally do read the piece on " I heard the future in my Car on http://www.wimaxbook.net/newde... )
Everything is working in WiMAX now, it will start rocking with new WiMAX devices and the XOHM !
However the real reason of writing this piece is to point out that unlike the US the regulators in other countries have only recently started allocating spectrum for WiMAX and there is no doubt that the funds which will be committed to this technology will rise over ten fold in the next two years solely for the reason that it was not possible to invest even if one wanted to do so in the absence of resources.
Fortunately those days are over now and Mobile WiMAX is rolling ahead swiftly with network rollouts and fall in the prices of Chipsets which go in the CPEs and consumer devices.
The Chipsets for WiMAX comprising of the Baseband SoC and the RF Chipset have fallen in the range of $30-40 from over $100 a year back and the projections based on volumes of shipments are likely to take these to Sub $10 levels. At these levels the WiMAX chipsets will be as competitive and hence ubiquitous as the WiFi modules installed almost universally in all mobile devices.
This is not surprising considering that the global subscribers of Mobile WiMAX will exceed 100 million by 2012 and the market for WiMAX services will be worth $5.5 Billion as against just $58 million in 2007.
For LTE, it should suffice to say that with the approval of standards by ITU, their clock begins now against Mobile WiMAX in 2005.
Finally do read the piece on " I heard the future in my Car on http://www.wimaxbook.net/newde... )
Everything is working in WiMAX now, it will start rocking with new WiMAX devices and the XOHM !