Some of the tech world's biggest players have formed an alliance to bring high-speed wireless Internet access to the masses by 2010 using the emerging WiMax technology. Firms Brighthouse Networks, Comcast, Google, Intel, Sprint, and Time Warner Cable make up some of the financial backers of the new venture to be called Clearwire worth an estimated $14.5 billion.
WiMax promises to bring faster wireless Internet speeds to mobile devices and computers. WiMax has the potential to deliver wireless service at broadband speeds over distances of up to 50 kilometres from the nearest connection point.
The WiMax Promise
This means the new technology may solve the basic problems inherent in current Internet wired and wireless services: broadband deployment is too expensive to reach all places and Wi-Fi hotspots are limited to a relatively small area and slower speeds.
By comparison Wi-Fi has a range of 100 to 300 feet and delivers an average of 1 megabit-per-second speeds. WiMax on the other hand has a range of of four to six miles and can deliver broadband speeds up to 5 megabits-per-second. Lastly, cellular "3G" speeds typically top out at 1.4 megabits-per-second and the range is dependent on nearby cell towers.
Therefore, WiMax has the potential to deliver broadband access to even the most remote areas and do so more efficiently than competing wireless broadband offerings.
However, not everyone is convinced the WiMax will work. Eric Schonfeld over at TechCrunch believes the new business plan is a "disaster waiting to happen", because the technology is untested as a mass market device and the different companies involved have different motivations for implementing and using WiMax.
He has a point, but with investment totaling $14.5 billion and a relatively quick rollout, let's hope Clearwire gets it right.
CREDIT - PC World contributor Ian Paul
