Watch Out... Here Comes The Mobile WiMax Hype Brigade
from the you'll-see-it-in-a-few-years dept
Om Malik is out breaking the news that the mobile WiMax (802.16e) standard has been "approved," which actually means a lot less than you might think. For those who haven't been playing the home game to keep up, there are a few different version of WiMax. The first is "fixed," meaning that you'd have to attach a stationary box to the side of your house or building to use it. The second version, which is getting all kinds of hype is "mobile" -- which is what most people seem to think WiMax is all about. That is, you'll be able to have a card or a chip in your computer that will let you access WiMax signals on the go... maybe. Despite press (and interested party) hype, no WiMax exists yet. There are companies who want to offer WiMax someday who claim their existing, proprietary solutions are "pre-WiMax," but that's just a meaningless label. It's like saying my house is a "pre-mansion" or my car is a "pre-flying car." Sure, I'd love to get there some day, but we're not there yet. Anyway, the IEEE standard for 802.16d ("fixed WiMax") was approved about a year and a half ago... and yet there's still no equipment. After the standard, you have certification testing which was delayed and delayed until it finally started earlier this year. The hope is that some certified fixed WiMax equipment might hit the market some time next year, but it's a long way from being particularly common. So, now that the mobile WiMax standard has been approved, don't think you'll be seeing any actual mobile WiMax for years to come. Companies first need to make chips and equipment to meet the standard (which might not be as easy as they'd lead you to believe). Then, you have to go through the plugfest/certification process, which, if the "fixed" certification process is any indication, will take quite some time.
In other words, while this is a good milestone, we're still talking at least 2008 before you're likely to see anything that can realistically be called mobile WiMax -- and even then it will likely be limited. Will that stop the hype? Hell no! Mobile broadband player Navini wins the award for the first to try to capitalize on this announcement by claiming they "lead" the mobile WiMax space. Navini, of course, wasn't a WiMax supporter until last year when they switched camps, but they're still offering their non-standard, proprietary wireless broadband and claiming it's "pre-WiMax," which somehow makes them a "leader." However, read the language in the press release, and you'll see they hedge each claim: "802.16e-like capabilities," "16e-type experience," and "WiMAX-like service."
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No Subject Given by Joe T on Dec 7th, 2005 @ 2:15pm
There is both fixed WiMax equipment (Redline is one manufacturer) and mobile (I've seen some pre-release stuff) today. If you think it's not gelled yet, you're quite mistaken.
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Re: No Subject Given by alaric on Dec 7th, 2005 @ 2:49pm
No wimax gear has been certified. The redline stuff is wimax compliant, meaning its built to the spec but not certified for interoperability etc.
The mobile stuff is pure and unadultered proprietary gear. It is not wimax and certification is unlikely to happen for 18-24 months. Think UMTS in 2001 when the chipsets consumed lots of power and nothing was interoperable, and the system was unstable. Got the thought in your mind. Okay, mobile WiMAX is a year to 18 months shy of that milestone.
A lot of early simmulations on wimax implementations show problems, problems, problems, and absolutely no gain in over the airlink spectral efficiency compared to umts or cdma2000.
Some of those early simulations suggest that the wimax implementation of ofdma is questionable and some nasty surprises await those try to commercialize it. My guess is that you'll see a few amendments to mobile wimax over the next 18 months at a bare minimum to correct flaws in the spec.
Mobile wimax is pretty far off and in the meantime IP Wireless and Flarion/Qualcomm have working solutions.
The entire situation is ironic. Lots of people think intel is making a mark in the mobile space and playing the carriers with their hype. In the end Intel is the one getting played by the mobile carriers. They will use intel's wimax for leverage but may well support someone else's solution.
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No Subject Given by F. on Dec 7th, 2005 @ 3:08pm
1. WiMax equipment is certified in Malaga, Spain http://www.cetecom.es/ .
2. Fixed WiMAX runs in different parts of the globe, such as Berlin, Germany, where AirSpan technology is used.
3. Rgds. :)
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Re: No Subject Given by alaric on Dec 7th, 2005 @ 3:27pm
wimax gear is undergoing certification in malaga. None has passed yet.
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Re: No Subject Given by Carlo on Dec 7th, 2005 @ 4:21pm
Alaric is correct, there is no such thing as WiMax gear yet -- none has been certified.
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Re: No Subject Given by Mike on Dec 7th, 2005 @ 5:48pm
As Alaric and Carlo have pointed out, if someone tells you they have certified WiMax equipment, they're lying to you.
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Re: No Subject Given by ThaiTelecom on Dec 8th, 2005 @ 11:41pm
There is no point arguing about equipement being certified WiMAX or not. Even GSM "standard" equipement today has diferent implementation depending on which supplier you are using. The important point is that due to standartization of 802.16, suppliers will have to work on interoperability and this is driven cost down and foster large scale implementation which is key for the next era of broadband wireless.
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Re: No Subject Given by koxinga on Dec 10th, 2005 @ 7:23am
While you are right from the cost perspective, the equipment manufacturers have chosen to sell on hype and vapourware at this particular stage (unlike GSM which is mature). Hence it is necessary to differentiate between certified and compliant if you are in the market for WBA equipment.
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