Why you should care about WiMax

...switch between Wi-Fi, 3G, WiMax and GSM, but that's still at least two connections and two bills to pay. The ideal scenario must surely be to get rid of all that multiplicity, and mobile WiMax could be the answer.

Who's currently using WiMAX?
Fixed WiMAX-based networks have already begun to appear in cities across the North America, Latin America, China, Japan and Australia. The governments of South Korea and Taiwan are enthusiastically working with the standard, with rollouts either underway or imminent. As for the UK, a WiMAX network was recently launched in Westminster, aimed at small businesses.

Interestingly, Motorola has just announced that it's supplying a mobile WiMAX rollout across Pakistan, which will be the largest deployment of 802.16e so far. Mobile WiMAX will also be appearing in Slovakia and Austria at the end of 2006.

The Pakistani rollout is significant not only because those involved are skipping the fixed-only stage of WiMAX but also because Motorola itself is supplying the hardware. By contrast, the big players' attitude to fixed WiMAX was to set up OEM agreements with smaller vendors. They clearly see more of a future — and more money — in mobile WiMAX.

What are the applications for WiMAX?
Applications are already popping up all over the place. As mentioned above, it's well suited to transportation, as the range is good enough to cut down on the number of transmitters needed to stay connected over long journeys. It's also very useful for meshed wireless networking and for temporary installations, such as on building sites, because it is so easy (and relatively cheap) to roll out. But who knows what the future might hold for mobile WiMAX? Chances are, the greatest use for completely mobile and ubiquitous broadband hasn't even been invented yet.

Ok, so sum it up for me — what do I need and when?
Unless you're in the communications business, you probably don't need to worry about it just yet — especially if you've invested heavily in 3G. But WiMAX is already proving to be a useful solution for a variety of applications, and in the next couple of years 802.16e-based technology may well become indispensable.