Fixed Cellular Broadband?
Now that everyone is launching 3G offerings around the world, Larry Garfield over at InfoSync is wondering why no one is talking about 3G as a fixed wireless solution. While most 3G offering do contain a data card component, they’re for laptops being used in mostly mobile situations. Instead, what if you hung a cellular receiver on a house and hooked it up to a home network? Admittedly, the backhaul speeds are not quite as fast as most wired broadband that’s available today, and it will be much slower than WiMax, whenever that actually gets around to being offered. However, carriers are building up 3G for mobile use already, so why not just start offering it for fixed wireless use as well? He specifically sees it as having potential in less well connected areas, that are currently served by things like satellite broadband. The carriers would get additional revenue off the same investment. They could even bundle it with other offerings. Of course, quality and support may be one issue. People are used to having troubles or latency issues with data connections on the go. They’re not so forgiving with a fixed connection. The support costs alone might make it less than worthwhile. Also, with most 3G offerings so far, the upload speeds have been pitiful. They’re barely bareable on a single laptop, but if the network is being shared, it could be painfully slow. Still, it’s an interesting concept, and might be worth keeping an eye out for to see if any of the 3G providers goes for it. Most likely, they’ll just keep pushing a data card solution. However, perhaps, if someone really wanted to do this themselves, they could just buy a 3G data card and a Junxtion box and do it themselves.
Filed Under: 3g
