The Future of Wireless Broadband - 3G, 4G, WiMAX.. Who Knows

WiMAX, LTE, UMB, Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G, EV-DO, HSDPA, UTMS, MIMO, 3GPPP, OFDM, CDMA… How do we keep up with it all?

The number of different technologies, standards, companies going after the wireless Holy Grail of ubiquitous broadband will make your head spin. At WiMax.com we will do what we can to keep everyone informed on how WiMAX will fit into this alphabet soup of standards and technologies, but it won't be easy.


For example, last week I read an interesting article on how 3G is now available in every country of the world. To me that is truly amazing. I am still trying to figure out what exactly is 3G and why I would need to upgrade. In my home town of Austin, TX, I see my service provider advertising their 3G/Broadband service, but for some reason I still haven't upgraded. I am in the wireless business with a high-demand for an always-on high-speed service, but for some reason I still search daily for Wi-Fi hotspots to connect to the Internet. If I am not upgrading to 3G, I am sure others aren't upgrading as well.

So if 3G can do all these amazing things then why do we need 4G, WIMAX, UMB, LTE and all these other future technologies and acronyms? The reason is because the Internet is unleashing a flood of new bandwidth intensive applications that will tax all the wireless carriers' network capacity. Old networks have to be upgraded and optimized, new networks have to be built from the ground up to handle this new flood of applications. At the same time service providers will still need to offer good quality voice service or run the risk of losing customers to other providers. Over the next decade, new wireless technologies, ecosystems, business models and companies will be developed. Some will succeed, many will fail. Over time, the market will weed out the good from bad.....it always does.

Mike Wolleben
WiMAX.com

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