The Next Web

Garner warns US to hold off on WiMAX, Intel is furious

Written on July 23, 2008 – 2:25 pm
Joop Dorresteijn, Contributing editor

Picture from Erwin Boogert(CC)

Yesterday, Gartner warned businesses to wait on investing in WiMAX, at least until more vendors actually create WiMax handsets. A analysis that upset Gregory Ofili, the marketing manager with Intel WiMAX. He reacted furiously, but Gartner may have a point.

WiMAX works over a range of 50 kilometers

As most of us know, WiMAX is a wireless technology can deliver up to 70 Mbit’s, and works over a range of 50 kilometers. Implementation is expected in the next two years. Garner estimates that WiMAX projects will be commercially implemented over the next two years.

US businesses should wait

The Garner analysis report mentions that WiMAX will remain a “niche technology” that is especially useful for emerging or rural markets that don’t have broadband services yet. Gartner mentions that the biggest problem for WiMAX is its speed of implementation on the US market, and businesses have to wait until coverage extends to more cities than the ones that are covered at the end of the year.

Furious reaction on the Intel blog

In response, Gregory Ofili reacted furious: “The ‘analysis’ by Phil Redman of Gartner, is so thoroughly devoid of reality, it leaves me uncertain where to begin to debunk it.

Since Gartner’s entire argument hinges on the belief that only the LTE fairy can conjure up dual mode handsets, then I suggest an intrepid team of investigators from Gartner should be dispatched to Asia, post haste, in order to confirm the existence of numerous WiMAX dual mode handsets.

I have 15 years in the Telecommunications industry, and I would expect better research from a fresh faced kid out of College. Such ‘analysis’ from Gartner should be supplied with a warning: ‘Not intended to inform strategic business decisions’. The LTE gang must really fear WiMAX. Otherwise, why all the attention and erroneous analyses?”

4G Networks in Europe

I would like to see WiMAX succeed in Europe, since it offers speeds faster then the current 3G networks, over a much longer distances then Wi-Fi technology. But Gartner might be right, we will see in the coming years. But who nows, maybe the secret Apple device contains a WiMAX transmitter?

I hope you like that post!

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Gregory Ofili, us, Wimax

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Amsterdam welcomes wireless broadband network Wimax

Written on June 17, 2008 – 8:25 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

Today is a good day. From now on I can use broadband Internet wherever I am in my city. Even when I’m riding my bicycle or chilling in my favorite bar. As Worldmax - partly funded by Intel and Greenfield - launched a mobile version of the Wimax standard today.

CEO Jeanine van der Vlist told Reuters that Worldmax is aiming to roll-out a nationwide network, which will require 30,000 sites. The costs of this ambitious project will run into hundreds of millions euros.

Worldmax will charge around 20 euros per month for a subscription, which will grant laptop users unlimited use of data. As you can imagine, mobile operator won’t be happy with the arrival of this new player. Since they have already been desperately trying to prevent people from using VOiP and other services that threaten their revenue sources.

Holland isn’t the first country that welcomes Wimax, as Vodafone already offers the service in Malta. However, these Wimax sites don’t allow browsing on the move - as a laptop has to be stationary to connect with the web.

amsterdam, Broadband Internet access, Wimax, wireless, worldmax

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If you like the web, I bet you love South Korea too

Written on June 10, 2008 – 8:00 pm
Joop Dorresteijn, Contributing editor

That is, if you like to be connected to the Internet all day, while enjoying the fastest connections in the world! Enter the hyper connected society, with an astounding 90 percent of the country connected with 3G and a nation wide coverage of a South Korean version of Wimax.

How and why did South Korea become an overlord in Internet speed? In short; the South Korean government introduced a number of policy instruments to stimulate technological learning, aimed to strengthen international competitiveness of the economy. The government launched a five-year plan to create a ubiquitous networked world in 1995, meaning that the country developed a stunning 1.5 billion dollar wireless network to stimulate the use of the Internet.

Today, South Korea is the most connected country on earth, but the funny thing is that we hardly hear anything about Korea’s web scene. This made us curious about what websites are popular over there, and if Korea has a web 2.0 scene. To find that out, we reviewed the three visited websites in Korea and we interviewed Chang W. Kim, Korean web 2.0 enthusiast and initiator of the Open Web Asia ‘08 conference.

(more…)

3g, asia, Cyworld, Daum, facebook, korea, marketing, Naver, South Korea, Start-ups, TechCrunch, web 2.0, Wibro, Wimax

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