Motorola shows off X24 WiMAX concept module for cars

From Engadget -

Leading into the WiMAX World Conference next week, Motorola has unveiled its X24 concept module for cars. While the device is designed specifically with advanced automotive telemetry in mind, there are possibilities for in-car entertainment and other applications. The chipset at the heart of the X24, the WTM1000, will be marketed for use in a broad range of consumer devices.

Will Mobile WiMAX Crack Fortress Europe?

From Businessweek July 11, 2007, 12:32PM EST -

For the past 15 years, American firms Intel and Microsoft have been largely shut out of the European-dominated mobile phone industry. Not that they haven't tried—Intel made processors and memory for handsets and Microsoft have been pushing Windows Mobile. But the business was still largely controlled by telecom companies such as Nokia, Ericsson, and Vodafone.

Now, with the pending arrival of Mobile WiMAX, the U.S. crowd stands its best chance in years at knocking down Fortress Europe. A kind of Wi-Fi on steroids, Mobile WiMAX delivers data at speeds comparable to conventional third-generation (3G) mobiles but promises to be cheaper to implement because it uses newer, more efficient technology.

More importantly, because it's based on Internet protocols, WiMAX lets carriers offer a single data service—akin to wireless DSL—that can carry any kind of traffic, from voice calls to Web surfing to video. That's a significant advantage over the separate voice and data services now delivered by mobile operators. WiMax allows service providers to become full telcos.

The implications for Europe's existing mobile players are enormous. Operators who have sunk billions into 3G spectrum licenses and speedy new networks will likely face significant competition from new entrants, including fixed-line telcos such as Britain's BT Group that could add WiMAX services and compete with mobile carriers. Already 345 operators around the world—including 57 in Eastern Europe alone—either have acquired WiMAX licenses, launched trials, or begun commercial services.

Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung all have said they will make a WiMAX-compatible handset by 2008. The market for WiMAX-enabled devices could amount to $4.7 billion in 2012.

Equipment makers Alcatel Lucent, Nortel , and Nokia Siemens Networks have also committed to delivering mobile WiMAX gear. But the industry's No. 1 seller of wireless networks, Ericsson, is skipping WiMAX entirely and betting its whole future on 3G and telecom-style successors.

The biggest potential opportunity lies for companies like Intel that have ached for years to get a piece of the mobile action. The chip giant is aiming for a repeat of its success in driving adoption of Wi-Fi: Starting next year, it will build support for Mobile WiMAX directly into computer chipsets used in PCs and laptops. And to seed the market, Intel also is tossing hundreds of millions of dollars into wireless operators that are building WiMAX networks to compete with conventional cellular operators.

Among the most prominent: A $600 million investment in Seattle-based Clearwire which already holds the No. 2 position in WiMAX frequencies in the U.S. after Sprint Nextel, and now has snapped up WiMAX spectrum rights in Germany, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Poland, and Romania. If Clearwire blankets Europe with WiMAX service, it could become the Vodafone of wireless data.

Intel also has invested in Britain's Pipex Wireless and Heidelberg-based Deustche Breitband Dienste, which is spending $1.3 billion on a nationwide German WiMAX network.

The opportunities for WiMAX are likely even greater in emerging economies, where the existing infrastructure of wired broadband service and 3G mobile isn't as well developed. Russian telecom provider Synterra said it had awarded a contract of undisclosed value to Alcatel Lucent to build a mobile WiMAX network covering more than 1,000 Russian cities and towns by the end of next year.

The role of governments in awarding wireless licenses highlights an important caveat. In the end, analysts say, the question of whether 3G or WiMAX wins out over the long term—or indeed, whether they peacefully coexist—will come down to spectrum allocation and license fees.

In Britain, for instance, U.K. Broadband, owned by Hong Kong-based PCCW, has asked communications regulator Ofcom to let it bid for a swath of spectrum near the 2.6 GHz frequency band that's currently set aside for future evolution of 3G. If U.K. Broadband wins, it could signal an end to a policy of mandating that certain frequencies be used only for particular technologies.

Similarly, a group of European leaders meeting in Gothenberg, Sweden, this week is weighing how to reallocate the analog TV spectrum that will be taken out of service after digital TV catches on. If regulators sanction the use of the 500 MHz and 800 MHZ frequencies currently used by analog TV in Europe for WiMAX, it would be a big boost for emerging operators. Lower frequencies allow for greater coverage at less cost, thus lowering the barriers to entry, says CCS Insight. But if traditional mobile operators grab the frequencies to improve their 3G coverage, it'll take a bite out of WiMAX's opportunity.

So it goes in the high-stakes race for the future of European wireless. The incumbents are hoping for regulations that keep them in the driver's seat. And the American interlopers are waiting for a crack to open in the walls of Fortress Europe.

The wide world of Sprint's WiMax

From Business 2.0 - An article on outlining plans for Sprint Nextel's upcoming USD3 billion mobile WiMAX network due later this year.

But according to OM Malik on GigaOM, Sprint is apparently rethinking its strategy. Accordingly, it is mulling one or more of these options:

1. Form a joint venture or a partnership with Clearwire.
2. Maybe spin-off the WiMAX business.
3. Attract outside partners like cable companies to co-invest in the WiMAX buildout.

Sprint has had informal talks with Time Warner Cable, its partner in a four-play offering Pivot. However, a potential sticking point is that cable providers want a guarantee that they would be able to lease access to the WiMax network at low cost to offer future broadband services.

Still, this proposal makes most sense when compared to the Clearwire option. Sprint has been hammered on the stock markets, though theprice declines have nothing to do with WiMAX. Instead, Sprint’s misfortunes are directly correlated with massive churn in its cellular customer base. Sprint Nextel’s postpaid gross additions fell 12% in Q1, and revenue grew a meager 5% - leaving investors disatisfied.

The integration problems between Sprint and Nextel are the real reason the former finds itself between a rock-and-a-hard-place. While WiMAX might seem crazy today, it may seem like a minor investment and could dramatically change the future of mobile communications.

American Consumers Mainly want WiMAX for On-the-Go E-mail

From Cellular-News -

A Motorola consumer survey reveals that the top four anticipated Internet uses for WiMAX mobile will be email, live news, mobile TV, and music downloading:

● 49% would likely use WiMAX to read or respond to e-mail;
● 31% would read or view "live," real-time online media;
● 28% would enjoy mobile entertainment;
● 28% said they would use WiMAX to download/listen to music.

In the survey, WiMAX was defined as a new, long-range wireless broadband technology that provides secure, high-speed Internet access through a laptop or other device, which can be used in a "fixed" or stationary setting like a home or office.

More importantly, WiMAX was defined as being able to be used while walking or traveling in a car, cab, bus or train, and the Internet connectivity it provides will have the connection speeds of cable or DSL, but with the mobility and roaming of today's cellular networks.

The survey also confirmed what most wireless service providers are counting on: 57% of Internet users think it's important that wireless broadband service be available wherever they may be.

On another level, consumers were asked a variety of questions about how they would most often use wireless broadband. According to the survey, the following scenarios rank among the most popular personal consumer uses of mobile WiMAX:

● 20% of the consumers said they would use Internet-delivered navigation services to get a real-time video view of traffic at major intersections while driving to or from their homes.
● 17% would rely on Internet mobile TV to help entertain restless children in the car while waiting for an oil change or other minor repair.
● 11% would use a mobile broadband Internet connection to check restaurant wait times, menus and daily specials online while coordinating dinner plans with busy friends.
● Internet users also want mobility at work. Of those surveyed:
● 45% would find it beneficial to use WiMAX for reading and responding to e-mail;
● 43% for accessing the Internet for work;
● 33% for accessing their company Intranet to better manage customers, resources and field service;
● 30% for sending data, including pictures or video, from remote sites back to the office.

The survey of 601 USA Internet-using households was conducted by CENTRIS through a national telephone omnibus survey between May 9-15, 2007. The margin of error for the survey is +4%.