ValleyShadow

The Increasing Opportunities for Unlicensed WiMAX

I've been a weekly columnist for WiMAX.com for a couple of months now (I've posted links to a handful of the articles here on ValleyShadow.com), and just last week I was asked to begin writing for another wireless publication called GoingWiMAX.com.  I enjoy geeking out on wireless and obviously have a problem saying no to adding more work to my plate, so of course I agreed. I wrote my first article for them this week, and the topic chose to tackle first was licensed vs. unlicensed WiMAX.

The reason I think the whole licensed vs. unlicensed WiMAX topic is interesting is because not many people truly understand that the two technologies serve completely different markets. When you talk about WiMAX, most people automatically think of the licensed variant -- usually because licensed WiMAX captures more ink the press than unlicensed WiMAX. But the fact of the matter is that licensed WiMAX is only being deployed by the large, tier one carriers and service providers because -- wait for it -- securing the frequency licenses to deploy licensed WiMAX gear is incredibly expensive. I'm talking hundreds-of-millions to billions-of-dollars undertakings.

That's a lot of money, even for the large carriers -- so what do you think that means for rural broadband? Point-to-multipoint technologies (like WiMAX) have proven to be one of the most cost-effective ways of getting broadband out to remote, rural and under-served areas -- but via the use of UNLICENSED WiMAX, not licensed. The reason these rural areas don't have broadband in the first place is because the large carriers did not think it was worth the billions of dollars that would need to be invested to reach such a small population of people via either fiber or the equally costly use of securing licensed WiMAX frequencies. 

That is exactly where smaller WISPs and unlicensed WiMAX comes in. The smaller WISPs have picked up where the large carriers left off and are extending broadband service to many of the previously under-served areas. And since they can reap the benefits of WiMAX (high throughput broadband extended over long ranges) without the high cost of securing frequency licenses, unlicensed WiMAX and point-to-multipoint products are the solutions of choice.

But the applications of unlicensed WiMAX go far beyond just rural broadband and last-mile access. To get the rest of the story on the benefits of licensed vs. unlicensed WiMAX and to read more about the other hot applications for unlicensed gear, check out the FULL ARTICLE HERE.

Fixed Wireless Continues to Thrive in the Background

In this week's column for WiMAX.com, I decided to write about the lack of love that fixed wireless applications get from the media and public. For the most part, when people think about wireless, they think about mobile wireless applications -- the sexy stuff (using the word "sexy" in VERY loose, geeky terms) like being able to connect their smartphone via a mobile WiMAX network for mobile streaming video, etc.  If you take a look at the media coverage of mobile wireless (like mobile WiMAX, LTE, etc.) as compared to the amount of attention paid to fixed wireless solutions (like cost-effectively extending broadband to the under-served rural areas of this country), it is clear that more people are interested in mobile than fixed.  

I find this interesting, considering how much talk and press coverage there is around the desperate need to extend rural broadband. We can talk all we want about how much rural broadband is needed, but when it comes time to actually deploying it, how will that be accomplished? Fixed wireless, that's how. The cost of running fiber or copper for hundreds/thousands of miles to extend service to some of these smaller, remote areas is completely cost prohibitive, but fixed wireless provides the ability to not only reduce the cost of the initial deployment (by avoiding the high acquisition cost of fiber/copper, and the cost of deploying it), but by also eliminating the high cost of recurring leased line fees. 

Now don't get me wrong -- I'm an iPhone fanboy and love the ability to utilize mobile applications as much as the next nerd -- but I do think that the role fixed wireless technology plays into the future of our nation's communications infrastructure deserves a little bit more attention than it is receiving today. 

Regardless, even though people pay much more attention to mobile wireless applications, fixed wireless continues to plug along and kick ass in the background. 

Here's an excerpt of this week's article, followed by a link where you can read the full column at WiMAX.com:

"While mobile WiMAX may be the more popular, sexy sibling of the WiMAX family, fixed WiMAX actually has a larger share of the market today.  According to Gartner, the total fixed WiMAX deployments were more than double that of mobile WiMAX deployments in 2008 - and their projections are similar throughout 2011.  Though mobile WiMAX continues to gain steam with Clearwire's U.S.  rollouts (and now their planned Spanish deployment next year), fixed WiMAX continues to be a larger market by a factor of nearly 2x.  

The reason for this is largely due to the significant role that fixed wireless plays in the deployment of broadband to rural areas.  In Gartner's reports, it classifies the "fixed" applications of WiMAX as "DSL Reach Extension", "Developing Region Broadband" and "Backhaul for Mesh and Cellular" - illustrating that extending the reach of broadband services via wireless (and therefore eliminating the high cost of fiber) is a primary application for fixed WiMAX.  

And that brings us to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which has earmarked $7.2 billion for the specific purpose of extending broadband to rural areas - what we all refer to as the "Broadband Stimulus".  Though technologies like fixed WiMAX and other fixed point-to-multi point (PtMP) wireless technologies were already gaining significant ground and represent nearly double the market opportunity of mobile WiMAX today, the broadband stimulus is expected to provide an even greater spike in the demand for fixed wireless."

To keep reading, click HERE.