WiMAX, will it survive?

Since this is my first post in this new wireless engineering blog, I wanted to kick off the discussion by looking at one technology that I love to challenge — WiMAX. On the surface, WiMAX sounds like a great option for the wireless sector. If you believe the promises of WiMAX chip and system vendors, WiMAX has the chance to offer a lower-cost wireless broadband option for bridging last-mile connections. It's also seen as a trendy option for brining high-bandwidth connections to cellular networks.

But, when you peel back the covers on WiMAX, things aren't as pretty as they might seem on the surface. First, while broadband connections and cellular data services are often talked about, many people are seeing real wins for WiMAX in wireless backhaul systems and in smaller markets. Most of the reason for this adoption is because mainstream WiMAX is based on the initial IEEE 802.16 spec, which is fixed, as opposed to IEEE 802.16e spec, which supports mobility. While backhaul is a nice application, it's proven to be a market where only a few players can survive. Just ask the Western Multiplex and Alvarion folks!

The bigger challenge for WiMAX, however, is really on the business side. I've yet to see a strong business case for the technology and I especially haven't seen a strong argument for why WiMAX is a better option that EV-DO and HSDPA is cellular nets.

So will WiMAX survive? It's still too soon to tell. But, there are still a lot of questions to answer. So stay tuned. In the mean time, if you want to get more insight into WiMAX design issues, check out Wireless Net DesignLine and WiMAX.com for more info.