There's Just No Stopping WiMAX

( 1 Jul 2008 )

By Stephen Las Marias, Editor


I was at the recent WiMAX Forum Congress Asia 2008, and one thing I noticed is that, well, WiMAX is definitely here. Although, I was a bit disappointed because I was expecting a big venue for such a huge up-and-coming wireless broadband connectivity technology. However, my disappointment somehow turned into excitement as the companies exhibiting, the products they are launching, and the number of plenary, panel and training sessions one could attend to and see firsthand are really quite worth the visit.

Another big thing during the conference was the announcement made by the WiMAX Forum regarding the first mobile WiMAX certified products—four base stations and four subscriber unit modules—from Forum member companies POSDATA, Runcom Technologies, Samsung Electronics and Sequans Communications.

I was able to speak to Dr. Mohammad Shakouri, WiMAX Forum Board Member and Vice President of Marketing, and he commented that the industry has now moved from standardization to the products, and now commercialization. "We are not talking about paper works anymore; this is a proof that the industry is maturing," he said.

Indeed the industry is maturing. There are more than 260 operators in 110 countries who are deploying WiMAX; about 39 companies who are developing chipsets and RF components for WiMAX, and close to 100 companies who are developing products.

In his presentation, Michael Murphy, Head of Technology, Asia-Pacific, Nokia Siemens Networks, said that there were 606 licenses that are planned to be awarded in the WiMAX spectrum globally. "It means practically that there are no more any doubts whether WiMAX is going to live or die; it is going to be here, and it is going to be here for a very long time," Murphy added.

WIMAX IN ASIA
Asia remains one of the interesting regions that will witness a "WiMAX boom". One of the opportunities for WiMAX is the untapped markets—and emerging regions in Asia, including India, Indonesia, Vietnam, which have less or no fixed line broadband capability, are where the greatest gap between supply and demand for broadband services are.

Looking at this, Asia, where there are growing economies, large number of people moving into the middle class with disposable income, growing demand for broadband service and historically under-built infrastructure is clearly the center of activity in terms of volumes in business. "Asia is where the fastest movers are because the economies are here now; they are moving very rapidly and growth is very fast. We are seeing markets happening as well in Eastern Europe, Latin America, even in Africa, but the greatest volume will be in Asia," said Tom Flak, CMO and Senior Vice President of SOMA Networks.

C.J. Meurell, European Operations General Manager for the Wireless Business Unit of Agilent, commented: "Quite frankly, it is the Asian markets that are more leading-edge technology users." He said that in the 15 years that he has traveled in Asia, there are more people walking around with high-tech mobile phones and devices, playing games, sending text messages and pictures back and forth. "You bring a high-speed, broadband wireless network to a mass market; I think the market drive will happen on its own."

Dr. Shakouri shares the same opinion. He said that Asia is most probably the number one market for WiMAX in terms of broadband need because not a lot of the countries in the region have wired infrastructure—and WiMAX offers the major opportunity.

However, Asia's WiMAX development could happen later due to spectrum allocation issues. Most Asia-Pacific countries are still processing spectrum bidding, according to ABI Research. On the other hand, this has not deterred manufacturers and application vendors that are aggressively entering mobile WiMAX markets.

SPRINT-CLEARWIRE JV—IS THIS IT?
Early in November last year, Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. have rocked the WiMAX world when the companies have called off their WiMAX plans by mutually terminating their letter of intent to build a nationwide WiMAX network. The companies both could not resolve the complexities associated with the LOI and failed to reach final agreement on the terms of the transaction. Some analysts considered this breakup a setback for WiMAX. They said that this confirms the riskiness of a strategy to move quickly to mobile WiMAX and slows the momentum behind WiMAX.

I wrote about this in our January-February 2008 issue. Way back then, I never considered the Sprint-Clearwire affair breakup a deterrent for the WiMAX industry, given the continuing increase in number of mobile WiMAX deployments, trials, and collaborations worldwide, especially in Asia—led by South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

During that time, both Sprint-Nextel and Clearwire, though, are still committed to developing their WiMAX services as well as deploying a network; however the timeframes would have been affected as both companies initially planned to rollout the WiMAX networks by end-2008.

In May—about six months after the companies scrapped their plans to jointly build a nationwide WiMAX-based network—Clearwire and Sprint Nextel, aided by a total of $3.2 billion combined investment from Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks, have resurrected their plans to build a new wireless communications company, which will be named Clearwire.

The new company will focus on expediting the deployment of the first nationwide mobile WiMAX network to provide a true mobile broadband experience for consumers, small businesses, medium and large enterprises, public safety organizations and educational institutions. It is expected that the new Clearwire will have a time-to-market advantage over competitors in 4G services, supported by strong spectrum holdings and a national footprint.

Perhaps, Barry West, the CTO of Sprint's Xohm business division, was smiling deep inside while he was giving his presentation and hitting back at the LTE supporters during the recent Wireless Communications Association conference late in April. Little did the industry know, except of course the strategic investors of the new company, that a week later, his company Sprint will be resurrecting its failed partnership with Clearwire, strengthening his points during his presentation, as well as proving his remarks that the LTE camp doesn't have anything to offer for the time being—which is why they're trashing the system that's out there working.


You can reach Stephen Las Marias at stephen.lasmarias@rbi-asia.com.