Something near and dear to my heart here, since I want to build a network using this tech, to provide broadband to underserved areas. The copetitive technology is LTE, and while I don’t think LTE will be a flo, I think you’ll see WiMAX being a more pervasive technology, especially in the US., sort of like how CDMA/EvDO is now…here’s why…
- WiMAX is IEEE 802.16. It’s a consumer electronics focused standard, versus a cellular/telecom standard (decided by the 3GPP). This puts it closer to WiFi than cellular, so consumer electronics makers will be more ready to put WiMAX into anything and everything they come out with.
- WiMAX is here. Products are on store shelves in some cases (like Clear’s), and in other cases providers can order components directly from manufactureres to deploy within weeks to a customer base. LTE, not so much.
- WiMAX is fast. Not as fast as some LTE tests, but it’ll beat regular ADSL with little to no problem.
- WiMAX is easy to et into. The 2.5 GHz spectrum is totally taken by ClearWire, it’s true, but the 365 GHz band is a promising situation The band carries a “light license”…providers just have to pay a small fee, tell everyone where they’re putting their base station, and work with other providers in the area to make sure their signals don’t interfere. That’s it.
- WiMAX has multiple uses. While LTE is more of a successor to 3G technologies, just faster, WiMAX is already being used for more traditional internet service proivder roles. Granted, LTE will get similar treatment, but the huge amount of spectrum available for WiMAX comapred to LTE allows for setups comparable to cable and DSL, rather than as a simple supplement to landline broadband.
So yeah, WiMAX is here to stay. I for one would switch to Clear WiMAX in a heartbeat if it was here. LTE from Verizon or AT&T? They’ll probably cap it too low, so a really hard sell there.