Though WiMAX has been getting a lot of coverage and will reach mass market very soon, it could be a victim of its own success. The explosive growth is causing a shortage of WiMAX-enabled devices which could stop the spread of this technology in its tracks.
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Here is an interesting piece by Richard Grigonis titled “WiMAX – Will America Catch Up?“. What I found most interesting was that, among other things, it compared the state of WiMAX services in the United States with those in Pakistan. From the article:
At the moment, Pakistan enjoys the world’s largest WiMAX network……… While Pakistanis luxuriate in WiMAX wireless broadband, we Americans await the big commercial rollout of Sprint-Nextel’s Xohm WiMAX service.
It’s good to know that at least Pakistan is ahead in one technology.
InfoWorld has an interesting review of a recently deployed WiMax network in Reno, and how it performs in real world scenarios.
The results showed WiMax (or OFDM to be more precise) to be fast and reliable, but only if used from a fixed location such as a coffee shop or within an office. The service degrades fast and can’t compete with the likes of 3G when used from fast moving vehicles or trains. It also has limitations when it comes to high-bandwidth uses, such as large videos and 3D gaming.
Nonetheless, the ease-of-use and high performance of WiMax will outweigh its cons and will play a large part in its successful adoption. Expect to see more offerings such as this one, especially in areas where wireless is a more suitable and cost-effective medium than copper or fiber.
According to Craig Barret, ex-CEO and current Chairman of the Board for Intel Corporation, Wimax technology will reach up to 50 million people by the end of this year and a billion by the year 2021.
That’s quite a figure from a source that has the muscle to change the course of technologies such as Wimax. The success of this technology depends a lot on vendor support and Intel being a major one, this could give Wimax the boost it currently needs.
The worldwide user-base of WiMAX had almost reached 1.8 million subscribers by the end of last year, according to this article. It has most likely crossed this figure by now. However, the technology has yet to reach a tipping point with operators waiting to see who else adopts it.
The “Tipping Point” in this case, will likely be the result of something very small and insignificant. Or it could be the result of a major change. Like the spread of Wimax in nations like India and China, which with their huge potential, could create an incentive to include Wimax support in more devices.
