Posted 11/10/09 at 07:27:03 AM by Paul Lilly

Sprint feels awfully confident in Clearwire's WiMax 4G technology, enough so to pump another $1 billion into it, Combined with a $500 million investment from Comcast, Intel, Time Warner, and Bright House, that brings the latest round of funding to $1.5 billion, reports the Wall Street Journal.

As if billion dollar investments needed any additional intrigue, what makes this one so interesting (and risky) is that Clearwire and Sprint are the only two U.S. carriers putting faith in WiMax to usher in 4G wireless broadband. Verizon and AT&T, who happen to be the two biggest heavyweights, are banking on rival technology LTE for their 4G networks.

The gamble is huge for Sprint. Should Clearwire burn through its cash, which the company has been known to do, it will be up to Sprint to invest even more if it's to keep majority control. Sounds simple enough, except that Sprint's net debt was already approaching $16 billion at the end of last quarter.

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Posted 11/03/09 at 08:30:54 AM by Paul Lilly

Following up its first WiMax deployment in Baltimore in September of last year, Sprint on Monday launched WiMax service in Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth. This in addition to the three markets being served in North Carolina.

And Sprint isn't even close to be finished. By the time 2009 comes to an end, the wireless provider says it will roll out WiMax in Honolulu, Seattle, San Antonio, and Austin, Texas.

"Sprint continues to lead the charge in rolling out wireless 4G in cities across America and the momentum continues to build," Todd Rowley, vice president of Sprint 4G, said in a statement. "Our aggressive expansion of Sprint 4G will include many new devices and capabilities that create increased performance and productivity while enhancing personal lifestyles on the go."

Looking ahead to next year, Sprint expects to launch service in several more markets, including Boston, Houston, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

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Posted 10/13/09 at 09:25:15 AM by Paul Lilly

According to market research firm Ovum, WiMax doesn't have much of a future outside of niche markets. In a report titled WiMax in emerging markets, the opportunity assessed, Ovum said that this holds true both for developed regions and emerging markets.

"Two thirds of the 300+ WiMax networks globally are in the emerging markets of Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Latin America," said Angel Dobardziev, practice leader at Ovum. "Yet, most emerging market WiMax operators currently have thousands, or tens of thousands of subscribers, rather than the hundreds of thousands of subscribers they planned to have at this stage."

Dobardziev attributes part of the problem to the pricing structure, pointing out that on a non-subsidized basis, WiMax is priced and positioned as a broadband option for businesses or wealthy consumers. Ovum doesn't see this changing any time soon and predicts that WiMax will account for less than 5 percent of the 1.5 billion fixed and mobile broadband access connections in the emerging markets by 2014.

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Posted 09/15/09 at 08:33:59 PM by Ryan Whitwam

WiMAX provider Clearwire has expanded its Silicon Valley network to cover the Google and Intel campuses. This development is a long time coming as the two tech behemoths are principal investors in Clearwire. Cisco is another partner and expects to have Clearwire coverage soon. Everyone else in the San Francisco Bay Area can expect the 4G service at some point in 2010.

The service is capable of up to 10 Mbps down, with an average of around 3-6 Mbps. That’s probably a few times faster than any 3G wireless data service you’ve used in the US. Leading up the public launch, select developers will be given free access, provided they live or work in the so called "Innovation Network" coverage area. They need only purchase a $50 USB modem. Certainly a good deal if you’re a developer who wants to work with WiMAX. So, how much would you pay for WiMAX service like this?

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Posted 09/11/09 at 07:31:36 AM by Paul Lilly

VIA on Thursday unveiled the eNote Turnkey Solution , an 11.6-inch ultra-thin notebook boasting both WiMAX and Wi-Fi connectivity. The company said it plans to demo the unit during 4G World in Chicago from September 15-18.

"The VIA eNote Turnkey Solution is one of the most advanced mobile notebooks in the world," said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. "It incorporates all the features one would expect in a state-of-the-art ultra mobile product, plus all the connectivity options that users need to experience truly high speed connectivity anywhere they go."

In addition to WiMAX and Wi-Fi, the new eNote will come configured with a VIA Nano processor clocked at 1.3GHz on the VIA VX800 digital media IGP chipset, integrated VIA Chrome9 graphics, up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, video acceleration for MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV9, VC1, and DiVX, three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port, 4-in-1 card reader, 2MB webcam, Windows XP, and a 4-cell battery for up to three hours of run time.

No word yet on price or availability.

eNote Turnkey Soluition Video

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Posted 07/28/09 at 11:08:45 PM by Pulkit Chandna

The WiMax Forum has decided to approach the certification process of 2.3GHz WiMax with much more urgency. Since the 2.3GHz band has been reserved for WiMax in most parts of Asia and Africa, the rapidity being promised will only help WiMax’s cause in these necks of the woods.

According to the WiMax Forum, the number of WiMax networks that have been deployed in this spectrum around the world stands at 29.  The first batch of 2.3GHz WiMax products is expected to be certified by the WiMax Forum in last quarter of 2009.  The consortium foresees these products on the market in early part of 2010.

“Certification profiles for 2.3GHz also pave the way for WiMax Forum certified tri-band devices in 2010 which will increase the opportunities for true global roaming across networks in the 2.3, 2.5 and 3.5GHz spectrum bands which make up a global WiMax footprint today,” said the consortium’s acting president Mohammad Shakouri.

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Posted 07/15/09 at 08:00:19 AM by Paul Lilly

Is the future of mobile wireless broadband in WiMAX or LTE? Perhaps both, or maybe neither. That's not much of an answer, but it is in line with the mixed messages coming from analysts.

A report by broadband wireless and WiMAX market research firm Maravedis indicates impressive subscriber growth in the WiMAX camp during the first quarter, which now totals 3.5 million worldwide users. That's a 75 percent year-on-year increase. But the same report also suggests that "LTE is gaining momentum and will be the technology selected by most mobile operators worldwide moving forward." And if that weren't enough, Maravedis notes that WiMAX operators are seeing global service revenue growth start to taper off, and ultimately concluding that "2008 was a difficult year for WiMAX."

If you're an LTE proponent, don't pop the celebratory champagne just yet. The same research firm said that 28 percent of the operators they surveyed complained of "technological delays" presenting a challenge to LTE's adoption rate, while another 24 percent voiced concerns about interoperability among LTE vendors.

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Posted 07/14/09 at 08:32:47 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Google must be pleased to see the market for 3G netbooks swelling at a time when it is preparing to launch Chrome OS. Market research firm iSuppli anticipates 3G netbooks – those with embedded wireless broadband – to become even more popular in the next few years, as always-on internet becomes an integral part of the whole netbook experience. iSuppli expects 3G netbook shipments to increase by over 70%, as compared to the previous year, to reach 17.8 million units this year.

But a spike in netbook shipments doesn’t imply that it would be smooth sailing for Google’s Chrome OS. “Google must counter the high visibility of the Microsoft brand name on countless products in retail outlets, ranging from software, to PCs, to peripherals,” iSuppli advised Google.

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