Posted 10/22/09 at 06:24:54 PM by Bart Salisbury

It’s coming--kind of, sort of. Clearwire, Comcast and Sprint plan to bring us 4G mobile broadband service in the next several weeks, provided we’re lucky enough to live in one of the few locations that will initially be blessed with the service; locations that seem connected by virtue of their being disconnected.

According to Clearwire’s press release all three providers will have service available in more than 25 markets, covering over 30 million people. Checking out coverage maps there’s not a whole lot to get excited about. Much of Clearwire and Sprint’s coverage, geographically, is in suburban Texas. The only cities, and I use the term loosely, are Las Vegas, Boise, Atlanta, Portland, and Seattle. The only efforts to tackle legitimate urban areas are Chicago and Philadelphia.

So, if you happen to live in Milledgeville, Georgia, population 18,757, you’ve got Sprint’s 4G service waiting for you. But, if you live in Los Angeles, California, population 3,834,340, you’re out of luck.

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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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Posted 06/21/09 at 06:45:44 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Baltimore became the first US city to be blessed with a commercial WiMax service in October, 2008. Though WiMax hasn’t spread like a flu across the country since then, the rate of implementation is expected to pick up a bit in the near future. Clearwire’s WiMax network has now become operational in Atlanta, Georgia and anyone living their can avail the service by purchasing a USB modem and a daily/monthly subscription.

The WiMax network in Atlanta is the biggest of its kind in the U.S and encompasses an area measuring 1,200 square miles. The speeds are expected to hover between four and six Mbps on an average with 15Mbps being the upper limit. Separate USB modems are available for desktops and laptops.

If laptop users will have to fork out $59.99 for the modem, their desktop-doting counterparts will have to pay $79.99 for the desktop-compliant modem. The latter species can also rent the device for a monthly sum of $4.99. The monthly subscription plan costs $40 whereas the service can also be accessed for $10 daily.

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Posted 06/19/09 at 07:56:10 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Netizens around the globe are eagerly awaiting a wireless broadband solution at par with cable or DSL in terms of speed. Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 4G wireless broadband technology that can establish parity between wireless broadband and wired/fixed internet services. The list of wireless operators keen on rolling out LTE services at the earliest is swelling.

According to ABI Research, a dozen operators across the globe have positioned themselves to launch LTE services in 2010. Verizon Wireless, US Cellular and MetroPCS Wireless are the three US-based operators that figure on the list.

Infrastructure equipment vendors like Huawei, NEC, Fujitsu, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, and Starent are experiencing a windfall as operators prepare themselves to launch LTE services. However, regulatory impediments in some parts of the world mean that a large chunk of people will be deprived of this almost divine wireless bliss until regulators put the necessary spectrum on the block.

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Posted 09/24/08 at 09:22:13 AM by Pulkit Chandna

WiMax has been heavily touted for its ability to provide last mile connectivity. As a result people have been keenly awaiting the advent of WiMax, the technology that is capable of sustaining wireless broadband networks spanning entire cities. But the wait for WiMax in the U.S has constantly been elongated for the past few years and the technology has never arrived.

However, Sprint is finally going to put an end to the wait. Baltimore will become the first U.S city to have a WiMax network in October. Sprint has scheduled a launch event on October 8, 2008 in Baltimore. Some other major cities including Chicago and Washington, D.C., are also expected to jump onto the WiMax bandwagon this year.

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