News and New Products

WiMax World 2005: Promises waiting to be fulfilled

By Jeff Berman, News Editor -- EDN, 10/27/2005

Collaboration among vendors, service providers, and end users will be necessary to achieve the promises of WiMax technology, according to a keynote address by Berge Ayvazian, Yankee Group executive vice president and chief research officer, today at WiMax World 2005 in Boston.

Addressing an audience of vendors, analysts, and media, Ayvazian touched upon the next steps for this emerging broadband technology.

"There are many issues and obstacles to overcome before we achieve what is promised by WiMax," he said. Examples include giving WiMax mobile-broadband capabilities without making the equipment that is being deployed today obsolete, fleshing out the WiMax standards, certifying products, and dealing with spectrum and regulatory issues worldwide.

"There are no harmonized spectrums for which WiMax will emerge as mobile broadband worldwide, and the regulatory frameworks are very different around the world," he said. "We don't have fully developed standards that the WiMax movement really stands for. We have to establish these and get the certification done and get the equipment out there in the marketplace and prove the interoperability and get the full value of that standards capability in order to have the promise of what WiMax can achieve."

Ayvazian identified the unique and robust "Internet marketplace" as a tremendous opportunity for WiMax equipment vendors and service providers. "We need to make it mobile and personal and deliver it any time and anywhere, so you can carry it with you," he said.

Broadband access has become the standard for a whole host of applications, both consumer- and business-oriented, he said. And fast access is in such great demand right now that many people are creating multiple paths to the broadband network, for work and home. However, he stated, the one connection they want most is the one that works wherever they may be. "This is a tremendous opportunity that we cannot squander," he said.

Yet to fully develop WiMax, service providers will have to go beyond providing simple access, Ayvazian warned. "In order to take advantage of the full potential of WiMax technology and wireless broadband, you have to focus on the applications," he said. "Otherwise, all we are talking about is an access medium with access to the highway. But there is nothing going on once you get on the highway. It is highly unlikely anybody would want to spend any money for that type of capability. The future of wireless broadband really depends on our ability to connect through applications."

The industry has work to do in this respect. "What we call applications today are actually very primitive," Ayvazian said. "In fact, they are not really applications at all. They are just packaged forms of connectivity."

As examples, he cited fixed-point connections on corporate campuses and backhaul applications for WiFi and cellular nodes. The real value will arrive as mobility is introduced and nomadic capabilities roll out on first a metro level and ultimately nationwide, he said.