Page III: A key electronics industry group has approved a significant standard for wireless broadband specifications known as "WiMax," giving a boost to a technology proclaimed as a breakthrough for cheap high-speed Internet access.
Base stations will be able to connect to other base stations within a range of up to 30 miles with data transfer speeds of up to 75 megabits per second. Subscriber stations, the set-top box-like devices, will connect to base stations with ranges of up to three miles and transfer speeds of up to 15 megabits per second.
Carriers and service providers will also have greater control of what services and plans they can offer subscribers from a base station. A carrier offering 700 kilobit-per-second and 1.4 megabit-per-second service plans could deliver both from the same base station.
Despite its momentum, WiMax still has a long way to go, and it may yet falter in the marketplace. Sky-high expectations for wireless broadband services are not new, but neither are disappointments. History is pock-marked with dramatic wireless failures, such as those of Ricochet Networks and MobileStar.
"The hype is way outpacing the substance right now," said Jim Smith, a general partner at venture capital firm Mohr, Davidow Ventures. "Even when it becomes widely available, I don't expect it to be the solution carriers will use in their tier-one markets; I see it more likely to be used in second- and third-tier markets, and even there, it won't be big for another three to five years."
Even Wi-Fi, embedded in nearly every new computing gadget to provide short-range networking, has not yet established a service market with significant revenues. However, the opportunities are much higher in the wireless broadband market than they are in wireless networking, making WiMax something service providers and carriers can't dismiss as just another overhyped fad.
Use of broadband connections in the United States shot up 42 percent to 28.3 million connections in 2003, according to the Federal Communications Commission. WiMax could theoretically make it easier and less expensive for carriers to entice even more subscribers.
"What we're talking about is radically affecting cost ... but the question is: Will it spur the market?" Mathias said. "That's what we expect, but by how much?"
WiMax rivals
There are a number of other wireless data and broadband technologies being tested by companies looking for alternatives to wires. Power line broadband and next-generation cellular technologies such as EvDO are also being kicked around. Another standard that is considered very similar to 802.16 specifications is 802.20.
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