January 2009

Wimax in NYC Sooner Than You Think??

admin on January 29, 2009

New York City at night

Clearwire LLC , (NASDAQ: CLWR) who launched a brand new WiMax network in Portland, Oregon earlier this month is making its first move to bring the new technology to the Big Apple. According to Unsrtung, Clearwire has posted wanted ads on careerbuilder.com searching for RF Engineers in the New York and New Jersey area. The ad sited “new market deployment” and the search for engineers who will “utilize propagation modeling techniques to complete RF designs of large-scale, complex markets”. In Response to questions about a possible deployment of WiMax in the New York City area , company spokesperson had no official comment at this time , but did say Clearwire will make their expansions plans public in early 2009.… Read the rest

New Portland WiMax Network to Serve 1.7 Million Subscribers

admin on January 28, 2009 | 8 comments

Wimax Portland

WiMax is making some serious headway in the United States. 3 months after its Baltimore launch of the first WiMax network in the country , Sprint Nextel along with Clearwire initiated the first west coast WiMax network in Portland, Ore.
As oppose to the WiMax deployment in Baltimore which covers only the downtown area, the network in Portland consists of 300 cell phone towers equipped with Wimax base stations, and covers 90% the Portland metropolitan area . According to Tech News World the new network initially covers 700 square Miles and can service 1.7 Million subscribers.
“WiMax is a new wireless technology that raises the bar on a truly mobile and affordable Internet experience for consumers,” said Sean Maloney, Intel executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer. “Intel, along with Clearwire and its partners, are proud to bring U.S. customers a next-generation world-leading broadband solution that redefines how, when and where consumers interact with the Internet.”
According to Eweek the new collaboration between Sprint Nextel and Clearwire , referred to as the new Clearwire will be backed financially by Intel ,Comcast [ who are both contributing more than a billion dollars] , Google and Time Warner leaving Sprint Nextel as the largest stake owner at 51% of the new company.

Clearwire is planning to provide WiMax to the top 100 markets.

Portland WiMax Goes Live (q-ontech.blogspot.com)
Sprint Clearwire deal wraps up (vnunet.com)

… Read the rest

2 videos showing ‘WiMax in car’

admin on January 28, 2009

Here are 2 videos showing Intel WiMax car at the Consumer Electronics Show, CES 2009, in Las Vegas.

Wimax ushers in 300,000 subscribers in Libya

admin on January 27, 2009

Libya Telecom and Technology (LTT) – Lybia’s only internet provider – has launched its mobile Wimax network earlier this week. According to BBC The state owned LTT partnered with Alcatel, ZTE, and Huawei to create a Wimax network that will cover the city of Tripoli along with 17 other cities in Libya.
The technology works in such a way that subscribers will only need a USB type device plugged into a laptop computer in order to connect to the network provided they are within 30 Miles of a Wimax tower.
Due to a lack of proper infrastructure that would enable land lines and wired data connections Wimax is perceived as the best solution for a last mile connection.
Libya Telecom is estimating the cost will be 30 US Dollars per month per user and that they expect the price to be lower in the long run.
… Read the rest

3 videos explaining ‘What is WiMax ?’

admin on January 27, 2009

Here are 3 videos explaining what WiMax is and how it works:

Nokia to pull the plug on N810 Wimax edition Internet Tablet.

admin on January 26, 2009

Nokia n810 Internet Tablet - Sprint Could Possibly Harm Sirius and XM

Nokia to pull the plug on N810 Wimax edition Internet Tablet.

Nokia has decided to stop production of the Wimax enabled Tablet less than a year after making it public. Although it did not specify the exact reason for stopping production it is fair to assume that the slower than expected spread of the Wimax network has a lot to do with it. According to company spokesperson Laurie Armstrong this move does not portray a lack of confidence in Wimax technology. In fact , she is suggesting that when Wimax does take off “refreshed products with even better performance will be required”. Nokia will continue to sell the none Wimax version of N810.

Early in 2008, Nokia released Wimax N810 Tablet at the same time as the deployment of Sprint’s first Xohm network in Baltimore, Md and officialy presented a demonstration at the CTIA 2008.… Read the rest

Ari Zoldan: Why the Telecommunications World Is Desperately Trying To Keep Him Quiet

Ari Zoldan on January 21, 2009

wimax city

With impending success and a strong conviction for his company, Ari Zoldan has the telecommunications world on pause. They wait as he and other major companies press play on WiMax’s ultimate launch. Ari Zoldan, President and CEO of Quantum Networks, LLC, a WiMax equipment and service provider, has certainly shaken and rattled the telecommunications wireless world into a query; and he’s just getting started.

Wimax, otherwise known as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology that provides wireless data in a variety of informative ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access.[ check out our Wimax glossary for more basic information]

Practically speaking, WiMax is a similar technology to WiFi, only it’s much more advanced. WiMax works through a tower that will establish microwave connections with its users. This tower operates in a similar way as a cellular phone tower, only with WiMax, the tower is connected to the Internet through a high-speed cable. This ‘Invisible Internet,’ so to speak, allows for a network within the radius of 50 kilometers–much greater than WiFi, whose radius extends only up to 100 meters.

Wifi versus Wimax

WiMax differs from WiFi in that WiFi is only accessible in select ‘hot spot’ locations, such as Starbucks or one’s home. WiMax is shaking and changing the world, in that it will make the world into one gigantic hot spot. This will allow people to access Internet anywhere, and even have better reception on their cellular phones. It will leave the world forgetting that incommodious slogan, “Can you hear me now?”
This technology is taking the world by storm, and will provide countless advantages for its users. Since WiMax works through eliminating the use of cables, it will be beneficial in large areas such as airports, college campuses, and large corporations. Now businessmen, university students, teachers and the like will be able to able to travel, use laptops and even iPods at their discretion without ever distorting their bodies in a series of ways, to pick up on the local WiFi.

Moreover, WiMax beats broadband wireless in that it will be able to reach rural areas, where there are currently no wired connections. WiMax will be a mass merger, bringing the wireless world together at a fraction of the cost, which will not only benefit everyone’s wallet, but everyone’s connectivity as well.
Ari Zoldan is not the only one who is a firm … Read the rest

A New Year Brings New Challenges for WiMAX — But Is WiMAX Really Dying?

Ari Zoldan on January 14, 2009

Recession - A New Year Brings New Challenges for WiMAX -- But Is WiMAX Really Dying ? Recessions hurt.

We’ve previously noted that decision-makers at many of the technology industry’s leading corporations seem to have a lot of faith in WiMAX, specifically in Clearwire’s United States venture. The catch is that the market does not share their optimism.

Intel’s losses after acquiring Clearwire now total $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion – significantly more than the previous estimate of $50 million. Meanwhile, Nokia is pulling the plug on WiMAX-enabled mobile devices designed specifically to work with Clearwire’s networks. At present, it’s a sensible strategy for Nokia, because mass sales of WiMAX products can not become a reality until Clearwire manages to roll out its offerings to a greater number of markets. But this could be a case of a double bind. Manufacturers like Nokia depend on the success of Clearwire before they can profit from WiMAX-equipped mobile devices, but Clearwire will have a harder time attracting customers in the absence of those devices. To borrow an old cliché, WiMAX technology seems to be taking one step forward and two steps back – at least for the time being.

But how likely is it that this currently sticky situation will kill off WiMAX development in the United States, as some have suggested? The survival of WiMAX depends, like all new ventures, on the future health of the economy, and it is difficult to predict how much longer it will take for the skies to clear. But ultimately, metropolitan WiMAX is still a good idea. There are even indications from Clearwire – at the moment, a mighty burden on the shoulders of Intel – that its offerings will eventually flourish. “Clear,” the company’s 4G WiMAX broadband service, will launch in Portland this year. Of course there will be no fancy Nokia tablets on the market to woo Oregonians with a variety of mobile options – though Intel Centrino 2 notebooks with embedded WiMAX will be out within the year – but residential users can still lease 4G modems from Motorola for a whopping $4.99 a month, or buy mobile USB modems at $49.99 each. Basic access to the 4G network then costs $20 to $30 a month. (Prices increase with greater usage.) That’s cheaper than most basic mobile plans by major cellular service providers, and comparable to the cost of residential high-speed Internet access. With analysts predicting that Clearwire will reach nine markets in total in 2009, … Read the rest

Interview with Michael Deboer from SpecEx, the “Ebay of Spectrum”

admin on January 7, 2009

specex

Can you briefly introduce yourself and your company ?

Sure. My name is Michael DeBoer, a Marketing Manager for a company called Spectrum Bridge. What we’ve done is develop an online marketplace which brings together buyers and sellers of licensed spectrum and generally leverages the advantages of the secondary spectrum market.

Can you tell us how the spectrum market is organized between the primary and secondary Market ?

The markets could be compared to the real estate industry. In order to make a purchase on the primary market, you’d have to buy a new home from a builder or developer. If you then sold the house a few years down the road, you’d be selling it on the secondary market, and the person buying your house would be buying on the secondary market. In the spectrum business, the primary market is the one we are most familiar hearing about; 700 MHz, AWS-3, cellular and PCS auctions: i.e. getting spectrum directly from the FCC [ Federal Communications Commission ].

The secondary market is where, to me, the more exciting moving and shaking takes place. It was solidified in 2003 when the FCC adopted new regulations which allow spectrum to be bought, sold or leased to third-parties. It was called the Secondary Market Initiative. On top of opening up a new market for reselling spectrum assets, the new rules also opened up the possibility for a company like ours to exist.

A secondary market transaction would be defined as one in which the license transferred or leased was not acquired directly from the FCC, rather it was acquired from a current holder. That being said, the secondary market is what ensures businesses can still get spectrum they need, even without forking over billions of dollars to win spectrum in a major FCC auction.

And how Spectrum Bridge is adding value into it ?

What we’ve created is a marketplace called SpecEx as a resource where people can find out what frequencies are available on the secondary market; basically leveraging the FCC rules to establish a viable and beneficial market for everyone. We make it easy to market your excess spectrum or find spectrum for sale with a few clicks of your mouse. It’s a lot like how the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) works for houses.

Let’s say you’re a utility company or government agency who would like to buy some … Read the rest

January 2009

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