Going WiMAX

Sprint-Nextel has become one of the leading names connected with WiMAX, and for good reason. According to a recent article in BlackBerryToday and a Wimax.com interview with Sprint-Nextel’s Barry West (President of 4G Mobile Broadband), “the carrier plans to cover markets with over 100 million potential subscribers by the end of 2008,” with soft launches starting as early as Christmas, 2008.

Combine this knowledge with Sprint’s revised ad campaign: “Sprint ahead: Experience life at SprintSpeed” and the industry-shift WiMAX is catalyzing becomes apparent. Rather than focusing on dropped calls, phone reception and reliability, Sprint has chosen to focus on speed and a futuristic vision: two elements that clearly invite the introduction of WiMAX to Sprint-Nextel’s services.

Sprint’s chief marketing officer, Tim Kelly, was quoted in a Carrier News article as saying, “Sprint’s new approach to the market embraces the awesome ways our innovative technology adds real value to the lives of our customers.” In an increasingly mobile society, WiMAX no doubt adds to the “value” element of wireless technology and seems to be setting a new standard for the market’s focus as WiMAX becomes available.

Technorati Tags: WiMAX, Sprint

Ari Zoldan
Launch 3 Communications

A familiar sight, at least for us city-goers: that lone, frustrated-looking individual pressing their laptop against a corner office building and clicking away frantically. No, they’re not attempting to commune with brick and mortar, but trying desperately to get just one more bar to pop up on their wireless signal—just enough to get their browser running and find an address, get directions, or complete some other last-minute task that normally would be simple—if only it didn’t require leaching off someone else’s internet connection.

With WiMAX in the works this image may very well become a thing of the past. With a tiny chip installed in your laptop (or virtually any other mobile device, for that matter) and a wireless signal that spans miles rather than square feet, internet access will have made a leap similar to that of the home phone to the cellular phone. But what does this mean for wireless technology?

This is an era of consolidation: we want to be able to make dinner reservations while we get ready to meet friends, and then map out directions to the restaurant while listening to our favorite song on the walk over. Case-in-point: Apple’s iPhone. It’s bound to be big, and not just because its part of a line of snazzy “i”-products we consumers love to, well, consume. With features that combine movies, music, internet access and other modern technological conveniences, it satisfies the hunger for consolidation.

Where does WiMAX fit into this? On the most fundamental level, facilitating high speed internet access facilitates the use of mobile technology and broadens its horizons. In a recent study cited by ITnews, hundreds of consumers surveyed anticipated using WiMAX for everything from e-mail to checking traffic reports. Combining the consumer’s need for consolidation with WiMAX technology only encourages the development of devices that can go above and beyond the current specs of the iPhone and make these connections possible for the next generation.

Technorati Tags: WiMAX, iPhone, wireless

Ari Zoldan
Launch 3 Communications