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Oh no! Not another WiMAX article! |
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Written by Kory Mohr
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Tuesday, 21 June 2005 |
Here we go again, folks. :) Actually this one's kind of cool as it mentions the "hype" factor. Amended from TheFeature:
You'd be forgiven for thinking that WiMAX was the single greatest thing
to ever happen to the telecommunications industry. Was the
"disappointment" of 3G so much fun that people want to go through the
hype cycle again?
It seems that the typical way for things to go with new wireless
technologies is that they appear on the radar 5 or so years before
they're actually launched, and the first few years are spent building
up the hype to unbearable proportions, then the last few leading up to
widespread commercial launches are spent railing on the new technology
because it doesn't meet the over-inflated expectations. 3G's the most
recent and most obvious example; WiMAX appears to be headed down the
same path.
The latest news has US telco Qwest announcing "WiMAX tests" near Denver, Colorado, and AT&T adding Atlanta to its trial locations. But, like others before, these trials aren't exactly WiMAX
While the initial WiMAX standard was ratified a year ago, certification
of products based on it still hasn't begun -- raising the possibility
that the equipment these carriers are installing could end up not being
WiMAX at all. Of course, that's just the fixed standard: a mobilized
version is still a ways off.
That raises one interesting point:
the abysmal track record of operators -- at least those in the US -- of
providing fixed wireless services. One would be hard-pressed to come up
with an example of a significant fixed wireless offering by a major
telco that's succeeded. Many operators aren't waiting for wireless to
catch up, either, already installing fiber directly to homes and businesses to offer blazing fast Internet access, telephone, video and other services. |
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