Wifi Wimax
Wifi Wimax
Wifi Wimax
A Comparison of
Technologies, Markets,
and Business Plans
Michael F. Finneran
dBrn Associates, Inc.
Telephone: (516) 569-4557
Email: [email protected]
June 1, 2004
Wireless LANs based on the IEEE 802.11 or Wi-Fi
standards have been a resounding success, and now the
focus in wireless is shifting to the wide area. While Wi-Fi
has virtually obliterated all other contenders in the local
area, the wide area market is still up for grabs.
The cellular carriers got into the market first with their
2.5G/3G data services, but their offerings are positioned as
an add-on to what is essentially a voice service. Sales have
been lackluster to say the least. The real challenge to the
cellular data services will come from the two emerging
data-oriented technologies, WiMax and Mobile-Fi. With
chip-level components due for shipment in the last quarter
of 2004, WiMax will be the next to debut.
Wi-Fi
Hot Spot
Home User
Nomadic
User
While many potential carriers are waiting for lower-cost WiMax-compatible radio
equipment, TowerStream has been delivering wireless Internet access to
commercial customers for almost four years. According to CEO Phil Urso, the
company currently operates networks in six markets including New York, Boston
and Chicago, with plans to expand.
Each POP covers a cell with a radius of about 10 miles, and connects customers
on links that range from 512 kbps to 100 Mbps. According to COO Jeff
Thompson, the customer access uses a pre-standard version of 802.16 that
offers many of the same capabilities, including QOS support. Rather than the
WiMax preferred 256-channel OFDM, their systems use a single-carrier TDD
radio link that provides flexible frequency reuse. Access links operate in the
unlicensed 5-GHz U-NII band using either line-of-sight or non-line of sight radio
equipment, depending on the transmission rate required. To improve reliability,
each customer site is homed on multiple base stations, and switchover takes
less than a second. So the network features both backbone and access
redundancy.
The company claims 600 customers, from financial services to universities and
hospitals. In one case, the Boston Public Library dropped a 32-node frame relay
network and replaced it with an MPLS-based VPN service using TowerStream’s
radio access network.
The first wave of products to hit the market will use the
256-Sub-Carrier OFDM option. As a result, the WiMax
Forum is initially developing test suites and interoperable
test plans for that option initially. It also conforms to the
ETSI HIPERMAN standard.
Adaptive Both WiFi and WiMax make use of adaptive modulation and
Modulation varying levels of forward error correction to optimize
transmission rate and error performance. As a radio signal
loses power or encounters interference, the error rate will
increase. Adaptive modulation means that the transmitter
Other WiMax Mr. Antonello notes that the WiMax radio link incorporates
Radio Link features to take advantage of advanced antenna systems
Features that are now becoming available. To improve overall range
and performance, an optional Space Time Coding feature
allows the use of two transmit antennas at the base station
and a single subscriber unit antenna that can combine the
two signal images. Longer term, the working group
envisions use of multiple input-multiple output (MIMO)
systems to improve overall range and transmission rates.
Whither WiMax? The market forecast for WiMax is not clear at this point.
Clearly, the major target will be broadband wireless access
or “Wireless DSL”, though carriers must first choose to
deploy the service. Their success will depend on the cost
and functionality of their offerings when compared to other
broadband access alternatives like DSL and cable modems.
When chip manufacturers like Intel begin delivering WiMax
compatible chipsets in late-2004, we will have the
possibility of consumer devices costing $100 or less.
However, the carriers will have to invest in the base
station equipment and they must decide if there is
sufficient demand and an adequate business case to justify
the investment needed to deliver a broadband wireless
access service.
§ Point-to-Point Systems
Point-to-point systems for delivering basic telephone
service, hot spot, or cellular base station backhaul should
continue to be a viable, carrier-oriented market niche. This
is particularly true in lesser-developed countries that lack a
wired infrastructure. In the US, TowerStream is planning
an aggressive build out of its wireless Internet access
service in major markets. They will have to compete with
much higher-capacity fiber access alternatives from the
ILECs and CLECs. However, deploying wireless access to a
customer’s building should be faster and cheaper than
providing fiber access. Carriers like WinStar and Teligent
failed in that wireless local loop segment in the late 1990s,
but the redundancy built into TowerStream’s service is
clearly superior to those first-generation offerings.
§ Mobile WiMax
A mobile WiMax services could produce a real dust-up,
however. Intel has been the primary backer for WiMax,
and hopes to repeat the success it’s had with Wi-Fi.
However, Cisco and Motorola are backing a competing
standard called Mobile-Fi (IEEE 802.20). Mobile-Fi
proponents note that their solution will be optimized for IP
in high-speed mobile environments. While technology will
be as important, being first-to-market with an all-
encompassing solution (i.e. at home and mobile) can be a
major advantage for WiMax.
Mobile service can also change the picture for the cable
modem and DSL carriers. They currently dominate the
fixed-location market, but they will have to develop service
adjuncts to support users outside of their homes. The free
Wi-Fi capability that Verizon now offers its DSL customers
is the first such add-on, however it is only available in
Manhattan. In the meantime, the cable companies are
pursuing joint marketing agreements with Wi-Fi-based
wireless ISPs to round out their offerings. A combined
The cellular carriers will likely come out on the short end of
the data battle. Their 2.5/3G data offerings have been only
moderately successful; Verizon Wireless noted recently
that only 3% of their revenues came from data services.
Further, those sales have been tied primarily to new
consumer-oriented applications like camera phones, short
messages, and downloadable ringers rather than bread-
and-butter network access for commercial users. With
higher-speed, data-oriented services coming on the
market, the cellular carriers will have a much tougher time
winning over enterprise data buyers. Further, if wireless
voice over IP (VoIP) starts to catch on, the cellular
companies might find themselves in a defensive battle to
hold on to their basic voice business.
Conclusion