Executive SummaryWireless broadband allows new operators to avoid the stranglehold that the incumbent carrier has on the local access market.
As the telecoms market is rapidly moving in the direction of broadband, the stakes are much higher than simple telephone calls.
Even if you get the incumbent’s cooperation, it can take as long as six months before business customers in CBDs can be connected to a fibre network.
In areas where wireless broadband is available, this can be done in days, sometimes even within hours.
Customer demand for more bandwidth and regulatory emphasis on deregulation and competition has boosted interest in wireless broadband as an alternative access technology to the local loop.After the proprietary systems of the 1990s, spread spectrum systems start to emerge in the early 00s.
Initially WiFi was heavily hyped as a last mile technology.
For small range uses such as networks within houses and offices etc, it has been successful, and is continuing to find markets.
However, in public places such as hotels, railway stations, restaurants etc, the growth has been more subdued, due to its short range, the perception of lack of security, lack of standardisation between hotspots, high usage costs and the increasing number of free hotspots.
Apart from its success in business venues WiFi remains to attract only very small number of users, often on a monthly bases less than 100 users per hot spot per month.WiMAX stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access.
It is the latest, and most-hyped, generation of fixed wireless technology, and is poised to provide a solutions to the major impediments to WiFi, namely standardisation and range.
WiMAX launched itself as a potential alternative to fixed broadband services.
However the lack of standards and commercially viable consumer equipment has seen the early opportunity for mass market deployment evaporate.
The next opportunity is to develop a 4G solution, combining mobile technologies and wireless technologies to address markets such as wireless data, telemetry, RFID and a range of other new services that will emerge around this 4G concept.
The future of WiMAX still looks bright and will evolve around a mixture of fixed broadband alternatives, especially in regional areas and, with added mobility, as a 4G technology.This report also examines the development of wireless broadband from a wireless PBX technology into WLAN - a flexible data communication network that can operate as an extension to, or instead of, a wired LAN in a building.
Revolving around the earth in different orbits, satellites perform such diverse tasks as meteorology, navigation, remote sensing and communications.
Despite many attempts to launch satellites into new areas such as the Internet and broadband, its core business remains long-haul bulk comms traffic and TV broadcasting.
For the rest satellite remains a niche market successfully serving remote and rural customers, mining companies, ships at sea and so on.
Nevertheless technologies are moving on and no doubt year after year the industry will continue to promise: next year will be the year of the satellite.