As US technology giants including Google place a multi-billion dollar bet on WiMAX, backers of the wireless data-streaming format say it will radically change mobile Internet use. <\/p>\n
A WiMAX network of the kind to be deployed across the United States by a joint venture dubbed Clearwire may render cable or phone line Internet obsolete and set the stage for free Google mobile telephones supported by advertising.<\/p>\n
"It is like mobile Internet in your pocket," said Scenna Pabesh, a spokeswoman for nonprofit WiMAX Forum, an industry group that promotes interoperability of networks and devices using the format.<\/p>\n
"Anything you could imagine doing in your office or on a hefty Internet connection at home you are going to be able to do on the go."<\/p>\n
WiMAX is deployed in 110 countries and Wednesday's unveiling of Clearwire should ensure the United States joins those ranks, according to Pabesh.<\/p>\n
The Asian Pacific region leads in WiMAX adoption. South Korea is considered a "success model" with 150,000 people, most of them in Seoul, subscribing to WiMAX mobile services, she said.<\/p>\n
WiMAX quickly moves large amounts of digital data such as video or picture files across kilometers, as compared to Wi-Fi connections available in cyber cafes or other "hot spots" where signals reach a few hundred meters or less.<\/p>\n
"It is really Wi-Fi on steroids, but the trick is getting it rolled out," Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle told AFP.<\/p>\n
"It is actually a game changer if Clearwire can bring it out. For the consumer it is cheaper, faster and you are not locked down to home or Starbucks."<\/p>\n
WiMAX takes advantage of broadband frequency spectrums and was likely on Google's mind when it got US regulators to make open access a condition in a recent 700 MHz spectrum auction.<\/p>\n
WiMAX connections are so data-rich and inexpensive that it would be feasible for online colossus Google to market a "Gphone" that offers mobile telephone and Internet services supported by advertising, Enderle said.<\/p>\n
WiMAX also holds the potential to deliver high-speed Internet to remote locations because towers can relay WiMAX signals long ranges.<\/p>\n
While the Clearwire network is not expected to be deployed in the United State for several years, Wednesday's announcement is seen as a "bellwether" by the industry, according to Pabesh.<\/p>\n
"This can only be good news for WiMAX and its propagation worldwide," Pabesh said. "We expect WiMAX to become a mass market technology in the next two or three years. It is really bringing mobile broadband to the masses."<\/p>\n
Clearwire is one of the largest WiMAX spectrum owners worldwide, with an emphasis on Europe, according to WiMAX Forum.<\/p>\n
"What a lot of people overlook is that WiMAX is already quite successful and new deployments are coming online rapidly," Pabesh said.<\/p>\n
Sprint Nextel and Clearwire said they would combine their networks in a new company, to be named Clearwire, to deploy a nationwide WiMAX network that will "dramatically enhance the speed and manner in which customers access all that the Internet has to offer."<\/p>\n
The new firm will start with a combined $3.2 billion of investment from Internet search giant Google, computer chip maker Intel, cable firms Comcast and Time Warner Cable and service provider Bright House Networks.<\/p>\n