It’s a slower week in WiMAX after a slew of announcements at the beginning of April. A lot of companies are preparing for another slew of conferences and expos. WiMAX Forum Asia is scheduled to take place from April 12-14 in Taipei, Taiwan. Most of the major players, including Packet One, Samsung and Greenpacket will be there.
There have been many reactions as WiMAX build out continues in the U.S. Clearwire launched in Houston towards the end of March. Many metro dwellers wonder when they’ll be getting the 4G experience. Clearwire outlined that New York, San Francisco, Miami, Washington D.C. and Boston will all get Clear by the end of 2010. They also stated that they’re looking to cover 120 million people by the end of this year.
That’s a lofty goal but it should be attained. WiMAX roll out continues to be strong in other countries too. Betelecom started WiMAX services in Minsk. BSNL continues rolling out its WiMAX services, now offering services in the Punjab region of India. YTL enlisted Connectiva for software in their WiMAX roll out in Malaysia. Roll outs continue internationally, but they’ve slowed a bit in 2010. There just isn’t that much space to cover in other countries. Most operators are looking towards WiMAX and other 4G technologies as ways to provide extra space for data and voice on the spectrum.
BangaLion outlined their plans for users and expectations for the rest of 2010. The MIC is looking to contract a 4G network in Vietnam. It’s interesting expansion internationally to see how governments and operators manage the WiMAX expansion along with deploying next generation mobile broadband.
Many mobile users in the U.S. and other markets need more space for data because of the emergence of data consuming devices like the Amazon Kindle and the iPhone. Apple launched the iPad last week and sold 300,000 in the first three days of release. It comes with a data connection plan that puts an even tighter crunch on AT&T’s data network. In an effort to combat naysayers, AT&T also announced a plan to upgrade its current 3G networks by spending $1 billion on expanding and updating its current network.
Many people looking for a faster internet connection with their iPad will look to connect to a WiMAX network using one of the mobile hot spots from Sprint or Clear. Both offer a solid option for a fast 4G connection. Sprint offers the Overdrive, which connects up to five WiFi enabled devices to the 4G network. The Clear Spot allows users to connect up to eight devices, connecting them to Clear‘s network.
It’s an interesting marketing strategy, to showcase a product using competition’s products. Sprint features an ad where an iPhone user sees greater speeds on the Sprint 4G network. It could also be used to show faster speeds on the iPad.
Top 3 Stories of the Week
1.Tranzeo Takes over Aperto Networks
2. Beceem Looking to Raise $100 million with IPO
3.Betelecom Begins Service in Minsk
Stat of the Week: 250,000: Number of BangaLion Subscribers by the end of 2010
Tweet of the Week: rootwork: Just landed amid the haze of pollen in Atlanta for #10ntc – loving my automatic @clearinsider wimax connection!
