WiMAX: Road to the Future

WIMAX : Road to the Future Sai Prashanth D Kothuri Southern Illinois University

WiMAX: Road to the Future

ABSTRACT

This paper explores into the technical specifications and details of WiMAX. WiMAX is an acronym for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. It is the next step on the pathway into the world of wireless by spreading high speed broadband wireless access to new areas and to places that are far thus reducing the expenditure of installing broadband in new locations. They will fill the gap between wireless networks and wide area networks and also provide an economical fixed wireless initiative to the DSL and cable in the places where they are available. The never ending progress of the IEEE 802.16 will also increase the scope for mobile apps which serve devices such as smart phones PDA`s and laptops. There will be huge revolution in the world of wireless with the introduction of WiMAX. It`ll be a complement to Wi-Fi and if the technology progresses enough to get a multicity link, then this could be compared to internet. WiMAX will become a revolution in the world of mobile communications. The WiMAX certified forum certified devices might extend the range of Wi-Fi to areas of up to 50 km and beyond and these will be based on the 802.16 standard.

WiMAX: Road to the Future

Background:
WiMAX is a wireless metropolitan area network technology that provides interoperable broadband wireless connectivity to fixed, portable and itinerant users. It can provide up to 50 kilometers of service area and also allows users to have broadband access even when they do not have direct line of sight to the base station and it can provide data rates up to 75 Mbps which is enough to support large number of homes and businesses using only one base station. Wikipedia defines WiMAX as the name used for IEEE 802.16 wireless interface specifications promoted by the Industry trade organization, Forum for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. Members of the WiMAX forum comprise of leading operators, equipment and component makers. The forum approved the new standard for wireless broadband access at the beginning of 2003 and it continues to be one of the most talked about technologies. WiMAX will be able to serve as an extension to the existing wireless technologies and can also replace the wired (Cable and DSL) for broadband access. For people who live in rural areas or areas which are sparsely populated or at places where lying of cable is not possible or is expensive, WiMAX will be wonderful alternative. Since Wireless setups are way easier to install and operate when compared to the wire based setups, WiMAX can be used by the providers to provide high speed internet access in areas which do not have enough internet connectivity or places where internet was a dream come true. This would be cost effective and can be done in a short period of time. WiMAX is not a new technology but it`s more of an innovative and commercially feasible implementation of a technology that`s been there for ages. WiMAX is being implemented in more than 125 countries in the world today.

WiMAX: Road to the Future

IMPACT ON ORGANIZATION/INDIVIDUAL/SOCIETY:
Companies and communities will definitely benefit from WiMAX. Laptop manufacturers will definitely benefit from WiMAX if they need networks that serve to a much larger area when compared to our traditional Wi-Fi. From the industry`s point of view the 802.16 technology would enable the firms that supply the equipment to design and build solutions that can cooperate and work with each other, thereby lowering the cost and the risk of investment. WiMAX is definitely going to create a large market. Prior to any significant WiMAX adoption, broadband wireless access (BWA) in 2005 generated worldwide service revenues totalling $1.8 billion and equipment revenues of over $750 million (Fellah and Syputa,2006 Pg. 138). Most of the equipment sold in 2005 was non conformant or proprietary technology. However, WiMAX is gaining traction in the marketplace as adoption of the industry-wide standards enables both service providers and technology vendors to make commercial commitments to the technology, forming the foundation of a WiMAX ecosystem. During 2006 service provider trials moved into launch phase in many areas. WiMAX service revenues in 2006 are estimated by analysts in the hundreds of millions of dollars and equipment revenues range from $143 million (Fellah and Syputa 2006) to $549 million. For 2007, world-wide sales of WiMAX equipment totalled nearly $800 million, representing 46% growth. WiMAX chipsets will be embedded into laptops by 2008, handheld devices by 2009, and consumer electronics in of 2010. These developments will spur mass market adoption. Adoptions to these technological advances by the consumers require a wide variety of devices that can connect to these services. WiMAX is giving birth to new mobile devices with high speed capabilities that can support multiple types of networks and can handle high rates of data

WiMAX: Road to the Future

transfers. The present day mobile devices support video and audio services. But WiMAX may give rise to a situation where one can start gaming over the internet through his phone. Also VOIP services which were once restricted to laptops and desktops are now possible with the mobile phones. Operators might benefit by including the subscription to WiMAX for various services such as telephony, communication and data services to the users. These might include the big players in the market who are capable of covering several cities or might as well include small ones who might restrict their operations to a particular location in the city. The legacy incumbents might as well become stake holders in this case. Since they might already have the existing systems to offer voice and data communication services, they might as well upgrade their infrastructure to offer the new services. As discussed already, the vendors and manufacturers will make big money by introducing new devices into the market that support this technology. They might as well make changes or additions to the already existing devices by designing and developing devices that are compatible with the present devices but support the new technologies. Organizations like IEEE will also benefit by setting a family of standards. IEEE is one of the dominant stake holders in WiMAX. Government organizations consider the broadband connectivity between different countries as one of the key factors. Therefore they will tend to develop public policy interest in WiMAX and other developing technologies. End users or customers are important for the success of any service based on technologies. As we already know, the return on our investment depends on how well the subscriber, user receives

WiMAX: Road to the Future

it, the success of WiMAX depends on how many WiMAX devices are sold and how many subscribers actually subscribe to the service.

Benefits of WiMAX:
WiMAX has been gaining enough publicity in the market today because the establishment of industry wide standards that enables both the service provides and the vendors to develop the technology with a commercial intent thereby setting a strong foundation. It looks as if it`s one of the pillars for the wireless industry. The market has definitely improved in terms of size and in terms of employment opportunities from the date it has been adopted. It is expected that WiMAX will generate good revenues for the companies that decide to associate themselves with WiMAX. Another benefit of WiMAX is increase in efficiencies. This includes reduction in entry barriers to new entrants which is evident from the membership of WiMAX forum. Fewer base stations greatly reduced capital for the network and also the maintenance costs. WiMAX has allowed interoperability between products from different vendors which had a reasonable impact on the costs. Governments and other public institutions were also beneficiaries. Evidence suggests that significant savings by installation of WiMAX is possible. Allegany County, Maryland, installed a pre- WiMAX system to provide high speed internet access to the county`s schools, government buildings and libraries, is saving $560,000 in operational and telecommunications costs (Wong2007, P39). The biggest potential benefit to the individual customers is the availability of high speed internet voice and data service which can be accessed with a wide range of devices say mobile phone, computer, etc. at an affordable price. The profits what the private companies

WiMAX: Road to the Future

receive out of this technology can be passed over to the consumer by levying low monthly rated to subscribe to the service. Consumers/Public can also greatly benefit from WiMAX used by the governments and enterprises for their use in public safety, connectivity to remote devices, tracking inventories and fleet and also supporting educational institutions at minimal cost or no cost. WiMAX is being implemented in many countries today. The primary reason for this can be attributed to the little copper infrastructure and for countries that cannot afford to lay fiber connections. This allows these under developed countries to be on par with the countries that have developed. By doing this these countries can expect foreign investments and also promote economic growth in the country. This contributes to the overall development of technology. There are several places in this world where the residents and business establishments are not able to obtain broadband connectivity at prices, quality of service compared to areas which are very well served. According the recent UNCTAD report there are approximately 1.4 billion people in 800,000 villages without connection to Information and Communication technologies. WiMAX, Wi-Fi and VOIP have been identified as developing technologies which can be expanded to the rural areas at a very low cost. The deployments of these technologies require a very less capital and are environmentally green and have low operating and maintenance costs. A reasonably big sized area can be commissioned with WiMAX or access to internet with a capital investment of $25,000 - $50,000. Government of Australia is implementing a project called Australia Connected which aims at providing broadband services to rural and regional communities with the aim of ensuring that almost everyone has access to high speed broadband internet access at a price that can be affordable. States in US are also drafting plans to implement

WiMAX: Road to the Future WiMAX at places that have limited or no access to broadband.

Problems/ Limitations of WiMAX:

Any technology despite the promises it makes, has serious challenges that may hamper its success. In case of WiMAX though it boasts itself as an IP based, high throughput, long range, fixed/mobile wireless technology, it faces some serious challenges too. They can be classified into challenges in business plans, challenges in the real world markets and the competition it faces from other emerging technologies. Consumer market in US was also affected because the companies could not provide affordable high speed broadband access to underserved municipal areas through government and private investments. Service providers in these areas are pulling out because the costs to implement rose and the customers /consumers failed to live up to the market`s expectations. Dissatisfaction has evolved with the technical parameters such as range and penetration of WiMAX. The range which WiMAX boasts of was calculated based on several factors. But they failed to realise that these factors changed from place to place. In cities, the speed would be greatly affected by the high rise buildings as these would obstruct the waves to penetrate. In remote areas, though the range wouldnt be affected other factors such as setting up of base stations and towers involved a lot of money because in order to support this technology everything had to be started from scratch. In cities, this problem was eliminated as they were able to link it to their legacy systems and thereby the cost factor was eliminated. WiMAX has been publicised as a standard for 4G telephony because of its capabilities in supporting high quality video streaming and high speed data transfer, but some manufacturers are choosing other technologies such as LTE (Long Term Evolution) standards which are based on CDMA (Code

WiMAX: Road to the Future

Division Multiple Access) technology. In US Sprint/Nextel have successfully bid for the US`s share of the WiMAX spectrum. They have partnered with Clear wire to extend their services. These companies together plan on setting up a WiMAX network all over the US and charge the subscribers a nominal fee for the usage.

Summary:
The IEEE 802.16 standards are developing at a steady rate and their development is notable for several reasons. The early proposals of the WiMAX technology enabled marketers to make a decision which allowed them to pursue the model followed by the developers who developed data communication standards and formed a group with in the IEEE to quickly push WiMAX as an international standard. The creation of 802.16 standards was in a way accountable for the commercialization and adoption of the technology. The 802.16 standards have impacted many lives around the world in many ways. This includes the individuals who represent several global firms, who contributed to develop the standards, people involved in developing the technology and the service providers and also the customers/consumers of the new products and services which will result from WiMAX. In spite of the technical and business challenges there are millions of users who would be expected to use this technology. Benefits to the industry who participate in the standards working group were identified and was estimated to be around $28 Million. If the implementation of WiMAX was a success, we would have many big players in the industry competing to enter the market and make big money. The subscribers in turn would not mind shelling out a few bucks monthly for a service that has decent range, good speed and uninterrupted data. The service providers would earn their share of profits and they would be equally interested in supporting a technology that

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has minimal maintenance and operating costs. It takes a furthermore study to actually determine the economic impact, but generally speaking a net positive benefit is anticipated. Having a methodology in place that would enable to study the impact of such developing technologies would be wonderful. The future of information technology has no boundaries or limits. WiMAX is designed to play a very significant role in the transforming the way people communicate, the way the enterprises and governments across the world communicate. It will also create an impact in places that have limited access to the broadband. Development of WiMAX will definitely serve as a successful model. Development of such technologies would definitely be benefitted if there were more firms or government investments to support the research and developmental activities. Such technologies might be seen as a paving path for a modern world. Initially, when commissioned it should not be viewed as a source of money making. In the next 5- 10 years we can see WiMAX dominate the wireless world. By that time it`ll be fully into production and will offer a reliable, low cost broad band access. Companies like Intel and Nokia who specialize in manufacturing devices that support WiMAX will become leaders of the market. Though this will not happen overnight, it`s destined to come very soon.

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References:
[1] Intel Corp., IEEE 802.16* and WiMAX: Broadband Wireless Access for Everyone, 2003 www.intel.com/ebusiness/pdf/wireless/intel/80216_WiMAX.pdf [2] [3] WiMAX Forum, IEEE 802.16a Standard and WiMAX-Igniting Broadband Wireless Access WiMAX Forum, WiMAXs Technical Advantage for Coverage in LOS and NLOS Conditions, Aug. 2004 www.WiMAXforum.org/news/downloads/WiMAXNLOSgeneral-versionaug04.pdf [4] Paul Sergeant, Senior Manager, Alternative Access Networks, MOTOROLA, the Promise of WiMAX [5] [6] SR TELECOM, Montreal, QC, H4S 1M5, Canada, WHITE PAPER 033-100596-001, ISSUE 1. SIEMENS AG 2004, Backgrounder for the Press WiMAX,