The first few WiMax pilots in India

The technology sends Internet signals up to 30 miles, and could solve the costly last-mile problem. Intel sees huge potential in it, but others prefer to wait and watch, says AKHTAR PASHA

WIMAX or 802.16 is like WiFi on steroids. It is a fast-emerging wide-area wireless broadband technology that shows great promise as a ‘last mile’ solution for bringing high-speed broadband Internet access to homes and businesses. While the more familiar WiFi—802.11b and g—handles local areas within offices or hotspots, WiMax covers wider metropolitan or rural areas.

What WiMax solves

WiMax is perfectly positioned to solve the last-mile problem in developing countries which telcos and cellular providers are facing—the inability to quickly provide service in areas that are hard for wired infrastructure to reach.

In India, where the telecom infrastructure is poor and last-mile connections are typically through copper cable, DSL and fibre optic, installation costs are high as it requires ripping up streets to lay cables. The ability to provide these connections wirelessly, without laying wire or cable in the ground, greatly lowers the cost of providing these services. This is why WiMax is an attractive alternative for providing last-mile connection in wireless metropolitan area networks, especially in cellular back hauls. In developing countries that lack a well-developed wired infrastructure, 802.16 offers a practical way to extend broadband Internet service to many different parts of the country. WiMax could thus bring broadband access into the homes and businesses of millions of people in rural and developing markets.

How does this happen? WiMax broadcasts its signal over many more channels than WiFi, and those channels are less cluttered. WiMax signals are also less susceptible to interference. This helps a WiMax signal travel as far as 30 miles, though on the average a WiMax base-station installation will probably cover between three to five miles. It provides metropolitan area network connectivity at speeds of up to 75 Mbps.

Comments Joydeep Bose, director of strategic programmes-India, corporate technology group, Intel India, “WiMax is magical technology. Many carriers have invested heavily in creating a fibre backbone in the country. We are working with Satyam Infoway which is by far the most advanced ISP in the country wanting to adopt WiMax. We are also jointly working with Reliance on a pre-standard WiMax pilot project.” According to market sources, Intel is also working with Bharti and Navini Networks, and is in talks with BSNL for similar pilot projects that let them connect their back-haul with their service areas.

WiMax provides high-throughput broadband connections over long distances. It can be used for a number of applications including last-mile broadband connections, hotspot and cellular back-haul, and high-speed enterprise connectivity for businesses.

Phase by phase

Intel sees WiMax deployment happening in three phases. In the first phase, technology (based on IEEE 802.16d) will provide fixed wireless connections via outdoor antennas in the first half of 2005. (These products will be WiMax certified). Outdoor fixed wireless can be used for high-throughput enterprise connections (T1/E1 class services), hotspot and cellular network back-haul, and premium residential services.

In the second half of 2005, WiMax will be available for indoor installation, with smaller antennas similar to today’s WiFi access points. In this fixed indoor model, WiMax will be available for use in wide consumer residential broadband deployments. Sources at Intel say that by 2006-07, it plans to release a new-generation of notebook processors that will be equipped with a WiMax client.

WiMax can also solve the problem of how to keep wireless notebooks and other mobile devices connected between 802.11b hotspots. An 802.16e amendment will add mobility to 802.16. As early as 2006, 802.16 could be incorporated into end-user devices such as notebooks and PDAs, enabling the delivery of wireless broadband directly to the end-user on the move.

akhtar@expresscomputeronline.com