A panel of industry experts has forecast that WiMax will
not cause Wi-Fi and 3G to become extinct when it becomes available
in 2006, and its application in the enterprise space should be
watched closely.
The 802.16 standard, otherwise known as WiMax, has been getting
much hype over the past year as being the next biggest technology
since Wi-Fi.
Chris Kozup, programme director of technology research services
at Meta Group, may be confusing to some, since no WiMax compatible
products exist today. He added that until there are certified WiMax
products in the market, there will be no WiMax networks out
there.
Kozup was one in a panel of industry members who broke down the
key factors that comprise the promise of WiMax technology at the
Wi-Fi Planet Conference in Toronto. Although WiMax is not yet
available, Kozup noted that it is one of the fixed wireless
technologies, along with Wi-Fi and ultra wideband (UWB), that are
of much interest to enterprises.
There will be a great deal of synergy between WiMax and the
802.11 Wi-Fi standard, said Lynn Lucas, director of product
marketing for wireless solutions provider Proxim. WiMax will extend
the coverage area provided by Wi-Fi, whereas 3G will be best suited
for high mobility, but low data rate applications.
Wi-Fi and WiMax can really allow enterprises to create an
end-to-end wireless project - WiMax for a large campus scale and
Wi-Fi at a smaller local scale, she noted.
An example of this co-functionality would be at an enterprise
campus. There could be a company's headquarters, its manufacturing
plant and a few remote locations all within close proximity to one
another, Lucas said. To use a wired fibre-optic solution to network
all of these buildings together would be an extremely expensive
proposition.
There are several ways that WiMax could help in a situation like
this by keeping price points down. WiMax could prove a better total
cost of ownership than a wired solution because recurring monthly
costs of multiple T-1 and E-1s could be avoided and would come at a
much lower cost than trenching.
Another attractive benefit is that it would offer enterprises
network ownership, which would allow them, in turn, to take "the
proactive approach" in their technology. Lucas noted that network
ownership would, for the enterprise, result in zero reliance on
service providers.
Because organisations would be able to own and operate their own
network with WiMax, the word "carrier" starts to take on a whole
new meaning, said Patrick Leary, assistant vice-president of
marketing at Alvarion, a company that provides wireless broadband
networking infrastructure to carriers.
"In a WiMax world, a carrier might not only be Telus or a Bell
Canada, but it could also be a regional power company or an ISP or
a municipality," Leary said.
On top of the benefits listed by Lucas, Leary added that WiMax
would allow for the "holy grail" of wireless technology, meaning
that it has high enough capacity for triple-play IP services
including Internet access, voice over IP and video.
Lindsay Bruce writes for ITWorldCanada