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WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) the new wireless technology promises to take the internet truly wireless. Beyond WiFi. WiMAX will facilitate the next generation data cards, which will offer speeds up to 2mbps. Currently Reliance, Tatatele, etc have their CDMA/GSM based data cards in the Indian markets. However the quality and speed of the connectivity is not so impressive. WiMAX technology promises to take the internet truly wireless. WiMAX has tremendous capability; it can replace conventional cable TV with IPTV, Mobile Phones, Wired Broadband, and much more.

A single WiMAX station can connect to a radius of over 6 miles connecting hundreds of businesses @ T1 speeds and thousands of households @ DSL speeds as easy as FM radio. WiMAX’s ability to deliver connectivity without line-of-sight makes it the preferred option over WiFi.

In Simple words WiMAX is just like your mobile signals (GSM, CDMA etc). While our cellular lines mainly carry voice (and little data), WiMAX has kicked off mainly with high speed wireless broadband. Not many people enjoy high speed connectivity over the conventional GSM/CDMA networks. This is where WiMAX has taken over. Reliance Communications has already started to provide 2Mbps connections over WiMAX in India, and Tata Communications has just announced nationwide WiMAX rollout, the largest anywhere in the world of the high-speed, wireless broadband technology.

WiMAX might have started with wireless broadband by telecom companies, but its real potential is yet to be unleashed. Once this technology hits Notebooks and Handhelds the real prospect will be uncovered. Nokia expects data traffic to increase by 75% in 2008 with future devices providing better services.

2008 will see a lot of innovation; this is the emergence of the nextgen wireless technology. Several companies have revealed their WiMAX plans. Nokia has already announced that Intel will provide the WiMAX technology for its Internet tablets to be released sometime in 2008. Whereas Intel itself is preparing its latest Centrino chips with WiMAX capabilities which are expected to bring WiMAX to your notebooks somewhere around June-July 2008. Reports suggest that Intel is investing a mega 2bln$ in WiMAX technology.

Recently I heard news about Wimax technology being called a ‘disaster’ (that failed miserably) by Garth Freeman, CEO of Buzz Broadband - Australia’s first WiMax operator. For a moment this put me in a doubt. Is WiMAX really dependable? But then looking at the confidence Intel, Nokia, Reliance Communications and others have show in this technology I was sure there must be something that Buzz Boradband missed out. And then I came across an article in Sydney Morning, which accused Buzz Broadband’s cost cutting and poor setup for the failure of their WiMAX service. However I wont favor WiMAX technology too much as its yet to prove its might, but one thing I am very certain that WiMAX is a very promising technology and by year end we would surely know how real it is!

The above WiMAX logo is protected by copyright and/or trademark. The use of this low-resolution image to illustrate WiMAX on OnlyGizmos, Use of the logo here does not imply endorsement of WiMAX by OnlyGIzmos, nor does it imply endorsement of OnlyGizmos by WiMAX.