Is WiMax the Betamax of wireless broadband?

By Jianggan Li | 7 August 2008 | Permanent link | 0 comments

Much of the debate around wireless broadband at municipal or even national level is the rivalry between WiMax and Long Term Evolution (LTE).

In fact the two competing technologies are of the same generation developed to eventually achieve 100 Mbps data rates at much lower costs than their predecessors, enabling lots of new services on the air.

One of the key differences is that WiMax is based on open standard, meaning that will be normally cheaper than LTE, who follows the proprietary trend of conventional telecom standards. Nevertheless, this could be an advantage for LTE as well as previously deployed telecom infrastructure will be able to evolve smoothly into the new generation without much cost in building new base stations.

Although the standard for LTE has been finalised and designing of devices has started, mass adoption is not expected until year 2012. That means, the ITU recognition of WiMax last year gives it a significant early-mover advantage.

In addition, the development of IEEE 802.16m, a faster version of mobile WiMax, is scheduled to be completed in 2009.

Of course there are more factors which might influence the outcome of this competition, such as spectrum allocation and backing of major industry players. In fact, a number of vendors and telecom operators have already expressed their interest in both technologies. There are even proposals that the two should merge. The field remains interesting to watch.

From a government perspective, a long term strategy in closing digital divide and delivering wireless services this would be desirable. However the history of technology is littered with great ideas that never saw the commercial success they deserved. Place your bets!

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