The global telecom industry has experienced a long ride of changes, adaptations and shifts both in wired and the wireless world. It may be the end of broadband family's expansion. This may be the last of the broadband's hi-fi techno flings. It may be it's last child and the best.

WiMax is the upgraded version of WiFi; presumably the second last child of the broad band family. Now, where did this WiFi come from? Before we continue with WiMax, let's introduce WiFi.

WiFi or Wireless Fidelity is used to define the wireless technology in the IEEE 802.11 specification - including (but not necessarily limited to) the wireless protocols 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g. The 'Wi-Fi Alliance' is the body responsible for promoting the term and it's association with various wireless technology standards. It works with a WiFi PDA, a Wifi enabled laptop or even a PC with Wifi support in the vicinity of WiFi hot spot. A Wi Fi hotspot is defined as any location in which 802.11 (wireless) technologies both exists and is available for use to consumers. It can be a public or private hot spot. You might be able to use it for free or have to get the permission from the hot spot's owner.

WiFi was invented in mid 1990s by Dr. Alex Hills, developed and commercialized by Apple computers in 1999. It has following features:

Limited range of 150 ft (indoors) and 300 ft (outdoors)
It uses 2.4GHz spectrum.
Usually used for WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) and internet
Also introduced as WiFi phones
Initially it started off with 802.11a and 802.11g versions with the speed up to 54 Mbps and 72 Mbps as its first generations later on it continued with 108 Mbps but stabilized on 90 Mbps One of the major weak points of WiFi is that the 802.11b and 802.11g flavors of Wi-Fi use the 2.4 GHz spectrum, which is crowded with other devices such as Bluetooth, microwave ovens, cordless phones etc. This sometimes can reduce the speed and performance of the WiFi system if these devices are around.

So what's in the new baby ‘WiMax’?

WiMax or 'Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access' came into being in 2003 by Intel developer forum. Intel started its development in 2004. Although may be the licensing will start in 2005 and the commercialization of WiMax might commence during the late 2005 or early 2006, WiMax is not launched but it has shaken the broad band and wireless market. WiMax is becoming a threat to already implemented wireless services. It is estimated that in 2007 it's shares are going to reach US$1.2 billion. To know what is the hype all about, let us have a closer look.

WiMax is described in IEEE 802.16 Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) standard. Typically, a WiMax system consists of two parts:

A WiMax base station: Base station consists of indoor electronics and a WiMax tower. Typically, a base station can cover up to 10 km radius (Theoretically, a base station can cover up to 50 Kilometers radius or 30 Miles, however, practical considerations limit it to about 10 Km or 6 miles). Any wireless node within the coverage area would be able to access the Internet.
A WiMax receiver: The receiver and antenna could be a stand-alone box or a PCMCIA card that sits in your laptop or computer. Access to WiMax base station is similar to accessing a Wireless Access Point in a WiFi network, but the coverage is more.

Several base stations can be connected with one another by use of high-speed backhaul microwave links. This would allow roaming for a WiMax subscriber from one base station to another, similar to roaming in cellular phone service. WiMax is also en-versioned to be used more appropriately by cellular companies as it means more coverage with fewer expenses.

WiMax promises

Up to a ten (10) mile range without wires (in testing phase although claims of 30 mile range are being made too)
Broadband speeds up to 70Mbps
Expected to deliver capacity of up to 75 Mbps per channel with a total of approximately 5 channels.
It will initially use a 2.3, 2.5 GHz spectrum but targeted spectrum would be 3.3 to 3.8 GHz. (It is proposed that the spectrums are to be divided according to regions.)
Handles "Last Mile" access in remote areas
Affordable technology
WiMax also promises to eliminate all the problems faced by broad band users.

Will WiMax ever land in Pakistan?

A question everyone who reads this will ask! It is encouraging to see WiFi hot spots in some public places, hotels and universities of the country and even more encouraging to know about free public hot spots. But, WiMax can take along time to actually land in Pakistan. This can be because of two reasons. Firstly because of its regulation as it has more coverage and may need license to start. Secondly, it will definitely face resistance from already operational companies offering other means of wireless connectivity.

According to a news item, ISPAK (ISP Association of Pakistan), PTCL and NADRA are planning to implement WiMax in Pakistan by 2008 for the enhancement of cellular technology. WiMax would be a plus point for Pakistani telecom landscape as even remote areas would be covered by the long ranged WiMax. This way our telecom industry would be broadened with reduced cost and increased consumer base all over Pakistan.

The writer is IT System Manager at Alternative Resources Center, Islamabad. He can be reached at zwahir@gmail.com