Broadband Wireless Access

Demand for broadband generates broadband wireless Access
In the late nineties, demand for broadband, or high-speed Internet data services, by both consumers and businesses accelerated the proliferation of DSL and cable-based broadband networks (wired broadband infrastructure). Since deploying these networks involved high investment costs, wireline access network infrastructures were not necessarily established everywhere that the demand for broadband existed. This generated the growth of wireless broadband networks, which exist primarily in rural and suburban areas in developed countries and in more developed areas in developing countries, bridging the digital divide or providing broadband services in areas where telecommunications infrastructure is poor or non-existent. The acceptance of wireless networks as a high performance, cost-efficient alternative to wireline infrastructure for broadband connectivity has also been another driver of Broadband Wireless Access market growth over the last decade.

Government deregulation further drives demand
Global telecom deregulation is opening up the telecommunications/Internet access industries to competition by new players. Unlike the built-in delivery systems of wireline infrastructure, wireless technology requires the use of frequencies contained within a given spectrum to transfer voice, multimedia and other data services. Usually, governments allocate a specific range of that spectrum – licensed or license-exempt bands - to incumbent and innovative challengers, alternative carriers, as well as to cellular operators, ISPs and other service providers, enabling them to launch a variety of broadband initiatives based exclusively on wireless networking solutions. During 2007, additional spectrums were allocated in many regions around the world, and increased availability is enabling operators to address increasing demand for broadband wireless access.

WiMAXTM offers an all-IP network concept
As the worldwide standard for broadband wireless access and personal mobile broadband applications, WiMAX technology offers solutions that enable fixed-line, cable, and mobile operators and new challengers to discover and capitalize on new opportunities in the anticipated market for higher average revenue per user (ARPU) services. This is because WiMAX has the capacity to deliver sufficient bandwidth to enable value-added applications, including live video broadcasting, high-speed data, toll-quality voice and multimedia content. Most importantly, the WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e 2005) standard was developed based on the concept of an all-IP network - a complete set of IP-based functions and interfaces allowing for high quality service delivery, while maintaining end-to-end QoS (Quality of Service) and minimizing investment and operating costs for operators.

WiMAX offers fundamental technological advantages
WiMAX offers operators two fundamental technological advantages: a superior radio technology and an open IP-based access network infrastructure. WiMAX benefits from advanced Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) radio and antenna technologies which can be used in fixed, portable, and mobile WiMAX networks to facilitate high spectral efficiency and obstacle penetration. This results in low latency and enhanced network coverage, capacity and user experience, and the opportunity for lower infrastructure costs and reduced cost per subscriber in comparison to other wireless technology. Furthermore, utilizing its built-in QoS mechanisms, WiMAX technology has the capacity to deliver maximal service quality under subscriber Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and enable rich, value-added applications including high-speed data and Internet, live video multicasting, toll-quality voice and multimedia content in both download and streaming formats. These capabilities enable toll-quality delivery of differentiated services coupled with enhanced subscriber Quality of Experience (QoE).

Mobile WiMAX is targeting primary broadband services and personal broadband
World trends indicate that Mobile WiMAX is targeting two distinct markets: primary broadband services and personal broadband. The primary broadband services market addresses both rural/remote areas in the developing world, and developed areas. For rural/remote areas, considered uneconomical by providers to offer broadband and sometimes even voice services, WiMAX offers an excellent solution to cross the digital divide and bridge the gap to areas already receiving these services. For developed areas, WiMAX offers an alternative to DSL, allowing operators to ultimately enable fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) of networks and services.

WiMAX faces the competition
The next few years will be crucial in determining the position of WiMAX in the market - and WiMAX adoption by operators and subscribers alike – as an access technology and as a service delivery infrastructure.
When attempting to compare WiMAX with Wi-Fi, it is essential to remember that WiMAX is (and was designed as) a broadband wireless access technology. Wi-Fi, on the other hand, is a wireless LAN technology that was used as an access technology to meet a market need and fill a gap in the market offering. The target usage model for WiMAX is wireless wide/metropolitan area networks, while for Wi-Fi, it is wireless LANs. Consequently, and as an inherent part of these target markets, WiMAX complements Wi-Fi services, offering better range coverage, mobility and handover in comparison to Wi-Fi. Furthermore, WiMAX has built-in QoS and security mechanisms appropriate for an access technology, which do not exist for Wi-Fi.

UK auctions WiMAX spectrum and innovative challengers emerge
So as the UK WiMAX market heats up and proof of concept trials are underway, spectrum auctions are already on the horizon. OFCOM (the Office of Communications) has already scheduled the auction of the 2.5 GHz spectrum for June – August, 2008, with the 190 MHz intended for full mobile applications. This will be the first time that the 2.5 GHz spectrum is auctioned in Europe for any technology (as a technology agnostic platform), rather than just for 3G.
Trials and auctions are also generating the emergence of relatively new operators who are offering WiMAX-based broadband wireless access today and plan to deploy throughout the UK. It is expected that over time, at least one national challenger will emerge, as well as regional players.

European arena offers proof of WiMAX success
The M-WAG trials in the UK come hot on the heels of other WiMAX deployments in Europe. For example, Alvarion, a world leader in WiMAX and broadband wireless access solutions and an active member of M-WAG, recently announced deployment of a 3.5 GHz WiMAX network by Iberbanda, Spain’s leading WiMAX carrier and subsidiary of Telefonica, in Navarra, an autonomous community in northeast Spain.