July 11, 2008Clearwire’s WiMAX Tests: Acquirement of IDT’s Spectrum
The Sprint-Clearwire deal gave Clearwire (NYSE: CLWR) undeniable credibility in WiMAX development, and the company is moving forward with the technology in a big way. Beta tests are underway in Portland, with “more than 70 percent of [the] WiMAX sites for Portland…in construction or on air.” Completion is slated for the end of year, with commercial deployments in that city and 3 others in 2009.
But now they have more than just the hardware; as of July 2nd, Clearwire has leased 3 one-year licenses on the 39 GHz spectrum from IDT Spectrum, 2 of which are in the Oregon-Washington area. You may not have heard much about IDT Spectrum (NYSE: IDT) recently, but expect to hear the name much in the near future;
they own spectrums nationwide, mostly in the 28 and 38/39 GHz range. As we come upon the dawning age of wireless, the value of spectrum cannot be understated: you need spectrum to do anything wireless–especially for WiMAX, which is contentionless. (That means it can only operate on licensed spectrum because it is built to assume the air is clear. If it isn’t, the equipment just doesn’t work! Naturally, some companies are trying to develop equipment to change that, but for now, that is the nature of most WiMAX equipment.) Those who bought spectrum when a majority of it was auctioned off by the FCC in the 80s are finally seeing their investment bear fruit, whether they intend to lease or sell – remember the 700MHz auction earlier this year, which grossed a total of $19 billion?
So Clearwire has hardware, spectrum, and is well underway in deployment; what’s to follow? If all goes well, 2009 will see Las Vegas, Grand Rapids, Atlanta, and Portland commercial launches as the first four commercial markets for Clearwire’s WiMAX service, primed to follow at the heels of the Xohm launches in Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington D.C. in the fall of this year. The start of the WiMAX nationwide buildout is only months away.
Posted by Arizoldan in : WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wireless, Word on the Street Is...June 25, 2008Mobile WiMax is Being Buried Alive?
WiMax news has been dominated by a London research firm’s recent announcement that mobile WiMax might be dead on arrival.
“Recent events have been unfavourable toward Mobile WiMAX,” says Frost & Sullivan’s Programme Manager Luke Thomas, referring to Sprint’s delayed deployment of its commercial WiMax network. The firm then focuses on the two aspects of mobile WiMax:
“In terms of indoor wireless broadband, Wi-Fi fits well in this space and with the emergence of 802.11n, which includes MIMO, throughputs would be far better than what MobileWiMAX can deliver…With respect to outdoor mobile broadband environments, users would expect Mobile WiMAX to seamlessly hand off to cellular networks in the absence of WiMAX reception. In reality this is not possible as mobile WiMAX is not backward compatible with existing cellular technologies.” (Centre Daily)
By their diagnosis, the future of mobile WiMax seems bleak indeed. However, the image they portray may be oversimplified to WiMax’s disfavor. For instance, most next-generation broadband technologies will radically change modes of operation, making them incompatible with prior hardware. And before you ask, yes, in this club is the much-championed LTE. So in any discussion of new mobile technology, upgrading existing equipment is almost a given. It’s certainly much more of an industry-wide hurdle than, as Frost & Sullivan make it seem, an obstacle of WiMax exclusively. And already the industry is moving towards a solution, with talks of multimode.
As for the talk of the 802.11n standard of WiFi: last I heard, parts of the standard were still under patent in Australia, and requests for Letters of Assurance were ignored. That’s not a good portent for the standard’s likelihood of approval, as fast as it may be. I’d much rather look to WiMax, which is set to launch in its first large U.S. metropolitan area, Baltimore, in September.
Posted by Arizoldan in : Analyses and Speculations, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wireless, Word on the Street Is...May 10, 2008“Wacky Wireless World”: Quantum CEO Ari Zoldan on Fox News
Michael Nelson, Stanford Group SVP, and Ari Zoldan, Quantum Networks Founder and CEO, discuss the WiMAX deal:
Clearwire-Sprint Deal: Why the Who’s Who are Investing in WiMAX
While the business world has been buzzing about the Microsoft-Yahoo talks, the big news for WiMAX fans is the Sprint and Clearwire deal. More details on the financial and commercial agreements are provided in this article.
Sprint and Intel both already had much invested in the success of WiMAX technology but the reasoning behind the cable companies and Google’s involvement is being questioned by some.
So why are these companies investing in WiMAX technology?
Comcast and Time Warner have been feeling the pressure from Verizon and AT&T who have been forcing their way into the television industry by providing video through your phone line. Verizon is attempting to lay fiber all the way to the home, or close to it. AT&T is laying fiber to the ‘node’ and relying on current wires to carry video signals to consumers’ homes. By helping the growth of WiMAX, Comcast and Time Warner would be funding an alternative wireless offering. Having a hand in mobile broadband technology could also help the cable companies compete in the ongoing battle for our living rooms. The triple play (phone, internet, and television) offering is no longer enough. CE, PC, console game, networking equipment, phone, and cable companies are trying to take over home media not only because of the huge potential to sell a complete ecosystem of products, services, and content but also for fear of being shut out.
Google is rumored to have been reluctant to enter the deal particularly because the WiMAX offered by Clearwire is currently just fixed wireless broadband. The company had to promise a future in building a mobile wireless solution for Time Warner, Comcast, and Google to put up the money. Obviously bringing broadband internet to mobile devices would mean more time spent on the internet and possibly more time spent on Google, Gmail, or YouTube. But mobile broadband also means more mobile devices which would, hopefully for Google, operate on the Android operating system that was launched by Google back in November 2007.
It will be interesting to see where this deal takes us.
Technorati Tags: Ari Zoldan, WiMAX, Clearwire, Sprint, Google, Time Warner, Comcast, Android, mobile wireless broadband, fixed wireless broadband
Posted by Arizoldan in : WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wireless, Word on the Street Is...April 21, 2008Airspan Bounces Back
Airspan received some negative publicity back in March from Buzz Broadband but continues to be a respected provider of WiMAX solutions. Vodacom Lesotho, a subsidiary of the Pan-African cellular communications company, has officially selected Airspan to be its WiMAX provider.
Vodacom offers world class GSM service, a standard collection of applications and features available to mobile phone subscribers, to more than 23 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique. Partnering with Airspan will allow Vodacom to provide subscribers with IP data services as a substitute to fixed line broadband access. “Airspan will supply its MicroMAX base stations in the 3.3 - 3.5 GHz frequency band in addition to CPEs (customer premise equipment).” Vodacom believes that Airspan’s solution is perfect, particularly in rural areas, for rapid deployment.
Given the failure of Airspan’s partnership with Buzz Broadband (mentioned in past posts), Airspan hopes winning this contract with Vodacom will highlight the flexibility and scalability of Airspan’s base stations and CPEs.
Technorati Tags: WiMAX, MicroMAX, Airspan, Vodacom, Buzz Broadband, GSM Service, Ari Zoldan
Posted by Arizoldan in : Word on the Street Is...WiMAX Providing Universal Internet
City officials face obstacles while trying to provide municipal internet and are looking to WiMAX as the solution.
In order to serve poor neighborhoods and the community at large, hundreds of cities including Hartford, Philadelphia, Houston, and San Francisco have attempted to build a free or inexpensive Wi-Fi system.
While Wi-Fi has been working great in most downtown areas where antennas and computers are in close proximity but the Wi-Fi signal is not strong enough to cover a wide area or penetrate through brick apartment buildings. Wi-Fi systems have not been delivering on its promised performance. Hartford officials have been forced to put its municipal internet project on hold and hope WiMAX will serve as an alternative.
According to Jack McCoy, chief information officer for Manchester and a member of the newly created Connecticut Broadband Coordinating Council, “WiMAX could run a citywide network. The concern is it could run into opposition from cable companies and other providers.”
Technorati Tags: WiMAX, WiFi, Municipal Internet, Universal Internet, Ari Zoldan
Posted by Arizoldan in : WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wireless, Word on the Street Is...April 10, 2008WiMAX Certification Leaves Vendors Wanting More
The WiMAX Forum has recently granted eight mobile WiMAX products with their certified seal of approval.
According to Dr. Mohammad Shakouri, WiMAX Forum Board Member and Vice President of Marketing:
Obtaining interoperability is definitely a step towards success for WiMAX but many are less optimistic and excited than Shakouri. The development of WiMAX has been slow despite the need for first mover advantage over LTE, and the certification for WiMAX products has been impatiently awaited by vendors. Unfortunately, the eight products announced as certified by the WiMax Forum only support 2.3GHz and Wave 1. The 2.3GHz frequency is used in Korea, but the rest of the world will probably use either 2.5GHz or 3.5GHz. With Wave 1, the eight certified products will only support basic features so vendors are pushing for the WiMAX Forum to certify products that support Wave 2 especially since network installation has begun for some. While it is very exciting that certification is happening, when it comes to WiMAX, everything needs to be faster.
Technorati Tags: WiMAX , Mobile WiMAX, WiMAX Certification, 2.3GHz, WiMAX Forum, LTE, Ari Zoldan
Posted by Arizoldan in : WiMAX, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wireless, Word on the Street Is...April 2, 2008Sprint Could Possibly Harm Sirius and XM
In spite of the failed partnership with Clearwire and their current financial strain, Sprint expects to launch Xohm as planned. We could be experiencing a wireless broadband network from Sprint in several major cities, such as Chicago and Washington DC, as early as spring of this year.
According to the LA Times, Sprint’s Chief Executive Dan Hesse is convinced that WiMAX is the way to go even though Sprint’s bigger competitors Verizon and AT&T have disregarded WIMAX in favor of another 4G network known as LTE (Long Term Evolution). LTE is a project in the 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) and is an easier progression from our current wireless networks. While some are concerned that the industry’s two largest carriers are not backing WiMAX, Google, Comcast, and Time Warner are rumored to be jumping on the WiMAX bandwagon. Not to mention, WiMAX was the big buzz word at the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas. On Tuesday, Nokia presented its most updated version of N180 Internet Tablet, a WiMAX device projected to run on Sprint’s Xohm network. Motorola displayed a WiMAX enabled car with music, video, and data mapping streaming wirelessly from temporary WiMAX towers placed in the city. All of the hype and optimism surrounding WiMAX is great news for Sprint but may be bad news for Sirius and XM satellite radio.
Sirius and XM have just received the long awaited approval from the Department of Justice for the Sirius XM merger that was first announced back in February of 2007. The merger would double their customer base making it much easier to cover fixed costs. Sirius and XM are also hoping that the merger will help ease the highly competitive environment so acquisition and marketing spending can be lowered. However, with the development of WiMAX, Sirius and XM will face competition from Internet radio which could be streamed wirelessly into cars or mobile phones. Sirius and XM have more than just the pending approval from the FCC to worry about.
Technorati Tags: WiMAX , Sprint, Xohm, CTIA Wireless show, Nokia, 4G, LTE, Ari Zoldan
Posted by Arizoldan in : Analyses and Speculations, WiMAX, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wireless, Word on the Street Is...March 31, 2008Airspan Defends WiMAX
The negative comments shared by Garth Freeman, CEO at Buzz Broadband, in regards to WiMAX technology have spurred Airspan, the WiMAX equipment supplier to retaliate and defend its technology. According to Airspan, Buzz Broadband lacked the technical and financial resources required to operate a performing network. In regards to Freeman’s specific qualm concerning the short distance that the WiMAX network was able to operate successfully in, Airspan blamed Buzz Broadband’s decision to purchase less-expensive micro-cell base stations. Cheaper base stations resulted in a trade off of range performance.
The future of WiMAX is still to be discovered and will continue to stir debate but I find the most insightful observations concerning the Buzz Broadband/Airspan situation was made by Nordic Nowire CEO Michael Blomqvist. Blomqvist acknowledges the mistakes made by Buzz Broadband. However, he also notes that such mistakes are typical and therefore Airspan and other WiMAX vendors need to take greater responsibility when it comes to educating carriers.
As far as Blomqvist’s opinion of WiMAX, he feels that “vendors have over-hyped WiMAX, promising features and then not delivering. At the same time, WiMAX does offer a better price/performance ratio compared to competing mobile broadband technologies—when done right.”
Technorati Tags: WiMAX, Broadband, Ari Zoldan
Posted by Arizoldan in : WiMAX, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, wireless, Word on the Street Is...March 24, 2008India Vs Australia: Is WiMAX Booming? Or Just Blowing Up?
While WiMAX tends to have a futuristic image, the Convergence India exhibition in Delhi proved that WiMAX and 3G mobile phone services may be affordable to the lay user sooner than predicted.
The speed of WiMAX that allows for such multitasking is a huge attraction especially in our fast paced environment. Yet, despite the optimistic news in Delhi for WiMAX believers, doubts have been made clear by Garth Freeman, CEO of Hervey Bay’s Buzz Broadband and Australia’s first WiMAX operator. In fact, Freeman has concluded that WiMAX technology is a “miserable failure.” According to Freeman, while the main selling point of WiMAX technology to entice people to switch has been the Internet applications, the non line of sight performance was so poor that such applications including VoIP would not work.
As WiMAX technology continues to be experimented with and tested in real world applications, we will see whether or not it pays to be a believer.
