 Wireless in the EnterpriseThis newsletter is sponsored by Belden(r) Wireless SolutionsNetwork World's Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter, 10/03/07The promise and pitfalls of WiMAXBy Joanie WexlerIn the early days, I faithfully attended the WiMAX World conference. Then, admittedly, I quit going for several years. As an advocate for enterprise IT departments, I wasn’t finding pre-standard discussions among WiMAX network infrastructure providers over what frequencies their products used particularly relevant. The way I saw it, circa 2002 to 2004, we needed ratified standards, then standard infrastructure devices, then networks to be built from them, then services, then client devices…. It all seemed too many hops away from the interests of the enterprise to be particularly meaningful. However, last week’s WiMAX World in Chicago indicated that we are finally close to all these moving parts falling into place. Commercial service availability is imminent. Unlike past shows, there were WiMAX devices and PC cards. In development is the ultra-mobile PC – a “mobile Internet device” about the size of a VHS tape – demo’d by the likes of Samsung and Nokia for use on WiMAX networks. For its part, Motorola demonstrated a Razr-like device with WiMAX and is building WiMAX chips.
What turned the corner for WiMAX, of course, was Sprint Nextel’s decision about a year ago to use WiMAX as its “4G” standard for broadband, IP-based mobile services. The company has said it will roll out trial services under the brand moniker Xohm in at least two markets by year-end (Chicago, D.C., and/or Baltimore), will offer Xohm services in multiple markets in early 2008 and, along with partner Clearwire, plans to cover 100 million people with commercial WiMAX services by late 2008. WiMAX proponents Sprint, Intel, Google and others talk about the multimegabit-speed mobile broadband technology as opening up mobile access to the Internet. But it’s been pretty much determined that Web sites aren’t going to adapt to mobile networks and tiny handsets (remember WAP?). Rather, the mobile environment needs to adapt to the Web, much in the way back-end business applications are now finally adapting (see last week’s story, “DIRECTV mobilizes CRM application for sales force”) This is the step that might prove to be the most challenging.
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| Contact the author: Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in California's Silicon Valley who has spent most of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future article topics. Reach her at joanie@jwexler.com. This newsletter is sponsored by Belden(r) Wireless SolutionsARCHIVEArchive of the Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter. BONUS FEATUREIT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESTo subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: security.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007 |
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