NINE (MORE) LIVES

You have to admire the doggedness of the broadband wireless sector. One of the keynote speakers at last week's Broadband Wireless World conference in Las Vegas, Fujitsu's Keith Horn, summed up the past of this industry area succinctly in his address: “The history of broadband wireless has been quite checkered,” he said. “There have been some tremendous examples of failure.” Somehow, though, that legacy hasn't stopped broadband wireless supporters from remaining surprisingly bullish on their own prospects. In fact, last week's event suggested that this corner of broadband has actually grown and gained even more momentum, owing, in large part, to the standardization, certification and development activity in WiMAX technology. One big and important question, besides the readiness factor of WiMAX gear, is what applications broadband wireless platforms will actually support — and which customers will want. From the onset of the conference, speakers and attendees were talking about whether a triple-play (voice/data/video) bundle really would be possible over a broadband wireless platform, WiMAX or otherwise. Since the triple play is the holy grail for cable operators and a wide range of telcos, many attendees at last week's event had a hard time seeing a nascent technology like WiMAX having much chance of being a contender against fiber — or even copper — networks. For broadband wireless backers to continue their tenacious survival, they will have to adequately address the issue of exactly why carriers need this technology — and how their customers will benefit from it.