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By Jason Meyers Jun 3, 2005 12:27 PM
If you thought enough had been said about WiMAX by this point, think again. Next week's Supercomm show will feature a host of WiMAX-related news and events, adding more fuel to the significant sizzle already surrounding the broadband wireless technology format of the moment. And while some dismiss that sizzle as mere hype about a technology that is only in its earliest stages of deployment, one service provider is actually maintaining there isn't enough hype around WiMAX. The June 6 Supercomm show issue of Telephony (available on Monday at www.supercommnews.com) will feature a story by News Editor Dan O'Shea about how the CEO of Towerstream thinks the potential of WiMAX actually is being undersold by supporters of the technology and that, as more equipment gets deployed, more people will comprehend its advanced capability. Towerstream, a wireless ISP, is participating in a live demo of WiMAX-ready gear from Supercomm exhibitor Redline Communications at the show next week. Redline's RedMAX equipment will be operating live in its own booth, as well as in IBM's and Intel's booths, with network feeds from Towerstream's Chicago facilities. The past two weeks have witnessed a surprising flurry of WiMAX activity, despite the early stages of the technology's deployment. Adaptix, a maker of base stations and terminals, recently announced its intentions to comply with the 802.16e Mobile WiMAX specification and a partnership with LG Electronics to develop a channel card for LGE's system based on the Korean WiBro standard. ASIC developer Altera and broadband access equipment supplier SkyPilot Networks both joined the WiMAX Forum, and the Open Base Station Architecture Initiative group announced a WiMAX base station open interface. And at next week's show, Terabeam Wireless will further elaborate on its plans to develop WiMAX gear using the system-on-a-chip recently announced by Fujitsu Microelectronics America. All that WiMAX buzz comes even before the first round of product certification testing begins at the WiMAX Forum-designated testing facility of Cetecom Laboratories in Malaga, Spain. At Supercomm next week, WiMAX activity will be concentrated at the WiMAX Pavilion (level 3 of exhibit hall A, booth 12025), hosted by the WiMAX Forum. (The forum recently partnered with Telephony and Wireless Review to produce the second edition of "The Complete Guide to WiMAX," a supplement that will be featured in both the June 6 issue of Telephony and the June issue of Wireless Review, and on both publications' Web sites). At the pavilion, WiMAX vendors Alvarion, Aperto Networks, Redline, Sequans Communications, TeleCIS Wireless and Wi-LAN will be demonstrating their gear and discussing product development plans. The WiMAX Forum also is hosting an open meeting about WiMAX on Wednesday, June 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in room 10AB of the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Conference Center. WiMAX is indeed still in its youth, and its success as a broadband access technology is far from assured. But the momentum behind WiMAX certainly can not be ignored, and expectations of what it will be capable of already far surpasses what the industry thought of previous broadband wireless formats. With so much focus on WiMAX, Supercomm 2005 will be a good opportunity to attempt to separate the hype from the reality. E-mail me at jmeyers@primediabusiness.com. |
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