The WiMAX Forum has announced the launch of their Interactive Deployment Database, which has information on more than 300 WiMAX deployments around the world.
The new Interactive Deployment Database relies upon the WCIS database offered by Informa Telecoms, and focuses upon various WiMAX operators, providing the readers with the latest data regarding the WiMAX deployments. A link to the database has been provided at the homepage of the WiMAX forum, and can be accessed at www.wimaxmaps.org.
WiMAX operator case studies are being added to the Forum’s website including commercial WiMAX networks by KT (Korea), DBD Deutsche Breitband Dienste (Germany), Iberbanda (Spain), WiMAX Telecom (Austria, Slovakia and Croatia), Liberty Technologies (Panama), DigitalBridge Communications (U.S.A.) and Max Telecom (Bulgaria). Additional case studies will be added later this year.
Sprint’s Xohm WiMax service is set to launch this month in Baltimore. More cities are planned for the fourth quarter, including Chicago and Washington, D.C. Sprint has also begun installing equipment in Boston, Philadelphia and Dallas/Fort Worth. Sprint’s XOHM is a WiMax-only play, says Unstrung, so the first dual-mode PC card to support CDMA cellular connections will be delivered under the Sprint brand rather than the operator’s “4G” XOHM marquee.
Meanwhile, Ben Wolff, Clearwire CEO (right), expects that their joint venture with Sprint will soon get a boost from a $3.2 billion investment from Google, Intel and three cable companies, to “fuel our nationwide mobile WiMax network deployment”. Clearwire service may be available in Portland, Oregon (below) in a month or so. It’s been in trial for about a year.
The WiMAX World Conference & Expo, held Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 in Chicago, would be a good time to launch Xohm service. Portland’s Clearwire launch could follow in a week or so. By the end of the year, Clearwire may also launch commercial service in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Intel’s Brent Elliot has a video showing their testing procedures around Portland. This summer, Clearwire moved from network testing in Portland to operational testing, the last phase of the trial before commercial launch.
Intel will begin shipping its WiMAX/Wi-Fi 5050 PCI card ($50) later this year, which will enable WiMAX on Centrino 2 laptops. The Echo Peak module (left) shares MIMO antennas embedded in a laptop lid for both WiFi and WiMAX.
In Centrino 2 laptops, two versions of “Echo Peak” are available: 1×2 and 3×3 MIMO configurations. A 1×2 configuration in the 5150 (Echo Peak) module means one antenna is used for uploading, while two are used for downloading. Three antennas are utilized with the 5350 Echo Peak module for faster speed with longer range (but requiring more power). Taiwan-based network-equipment makers, including Asustek, Gemtek and Universal Scientific Industrial (USI), are likely to be the contract makers for the Echo Peak and Shirley Peak modules.
For UMPC and MID devices, Intel is utilizing its next-generation ultra-mobile platform – codenamed “Menlow”.
I’m a WiMAX fanboy — at least in theory — for two reasons:
- WiMax is a classic story of an underdog. The spectrum capacity advantage of WiMax in the United States, for example, sets up an interesting dynamic between cellular carriers and Sprint/Clearwire/Cable.
- The social impact of broadband everywhere. This could be big. One World One Dream.
I’m also curious how it works.
Related DailyWireless articles include; Clearwire: Anytime Now, Clearwire: Retrofits Come First, Mike Boyd and Dailywireless Test Clearwire in Portland, Mobile Livecasting, Emergency Communications SimDay, Eye-Fi Now Geotags and CNN’s News Bureau in a Bus.
.gif)
