Mobile WiMAX: The evolution begins

Alvarion's O'Neal even sees the potential for cars as broadband devices, taking advantages of the eventual Mobile WiMAX capability for mobile handoffs at vehicular speeds. “Why couldn't you have a car that is synchronizing up with all kinds of different database as you are driving? It's getting map information or downloading music,” he said. “It changes the whole idea of a satellite radio.”

That kind of scenario may truly rely on the availability of “anywhere, everywhere” connectivity. Intel, like at least one or two other chipset developers, is creating an integrated Wi-Fi/WiMAX chipset because the company believes that making wide area connectivity and local area connectivity available in the same integrated package is another thing that will help service providers deliver new broadband services more economically.

“There is a lot of capex involved in building networks and subsidizing devices, and carriers should have more ways of making money from these devices,” Intel's Knudsen said. “Wi-Fi and WiMAX are very similar from a standards point of view, and they are both IP, so it makes a lot of sense.”

Although Wi-Fi and WiMAX are very cozy partners, particularly in large-scale wireless mesh architectures, the relationship between Mobile WiMAX and 3G is still pretty rough around the edges. Some people view Mobile WiMAX as directly and overwhelming competitive to 3G, while others see it as a broadband solution that is more a direct relation and next-generation alternative to location-dependent broadband services. One thing is certain: 3G is out on the market and beginning to enter a maturation phase while Mobile WiMAX is still a work in progress based on a standard approved only a few months ago. Operators of 3G networks are getting some experience with mobile broadband that companies waiting for Mobile WiMAX may take a little longer to acquire.

Mark Whitton, vice president and general manager for WiMAX at Nortel Networks, said, “To label 3G and WiMAX as purely competitive or purely complementary ignores the subtle strengths and weaknesses of the unique wireless technologies involved. 3G was designed to deliver ubiquitous voice in a mobile environment and is building upward from this strong base to also deliver higher-bandwidth services to highly portable devices. It carries with it the burden of backwards compatibility, and the complexity of implementing layers of services on top of each other,” he said, adding, “WiMAX is focused on dramatically dropping the cost per megabit for wireless broadband, while simultaneously delivering a real and significant increase in end-user bandwidth through the magic of OFDM and MIMO. These two business cases overlap at the edges and will inevitably compete with each other to some degree.”