Business 2.0 futureboy, in his latest column, The Problem With WiMax writes, “Before this purported successor to Wi-Fi can take off, somebody is going to have to build out a whole new wireless network. But it won’t be as easy for WiMax to take hold of our computers as it’s been for Wi-Fi.”
Clarification, for WiMAX is more of a back-haul technology, is a new variant of Fixed Wireless and thanks to guys like Towerstream is working quite well.
Another problem: The technology won’t be laptop-ready for at least a few years. As it is conceived now, WiMax will be introduced in several phases. The first will be in the form of an antenna that must be bolted to the outside of the building that is receiving service.
Well the antenna are now the size of a paperback, don’t need to be omnidirectional, and well it is less laptop more back haul technology anyway.
As Rajeev Chand, a wireless analyst with private-equity investment bank Rutberg & Co., puts it: “WiMax doesn’t take over the world. It will be one of numerous wireless technologies, like Wi-Fi and 3G.”
Stating the obvious! For further contrary reading check out, Revenge of WiMAX.
Wi-max (aka 802.16) is definitely being regarded as an end-user technology, rather than just a backhaul.
Witness the new 802.16e standard, which adds cellular-like mobility and handover functions, and the different PHY modes in 802.16d that are suited to an obstacled urban environment.
That said, the challenge of building out the network is real, but the complexity is probably less than that of a 3G network.