Today's new breed of broadband user demands unprecedented levels of interactive, personalized and rich-media services. These savvy consumers want customized broadband access more often and in more places. Wireless enables this to happen.
To meet these needs, content providers, operators and equipment manufacturers are being asked to deliver increasing performance levels at a dizzying pace. New applications and services are popping up from all corners of the Internet, affecting traditional models of content delivery and revenue generation.
Specifically, three powerful forces are challenging and shaping the communications industry:
Broadband as Common as Air - Broadband has become a core utility for all people in all parts of the world; leveraging the most exciting technology advancements of the last decade, wireless broadband will make this service as common and as accessible as air;
- Everything Goes Digital - Digital advances allow processing power, storage, and device sophistication to grow exponentially, yet are also enabling smaller and cheaper devices; and
- Everything Goes Mobile - Mobile broadband connections are offering consumers and enterprises access to bandwidth-intensive, personalized, rich-media content on the go.
In response to these forces, service providers are extending their offerings to position themselves as 1-stop shops for wireless voice, video and data delivery. As service providers transition to this model, they must be cautious not to rely on a "one size fits all" approach. Like most successful technologies in widespread use today, solutions need to be closely mapped to both individual customer needs and the requirements of the environment in which they live, work or play. Fortunately, the technology has arrived to make it possible for providers to pick and choose from a spectrum of broadband technologies to offer tailored solutions for customers.
WIRELESS BROADBAND REVOLUTION
The availability of new wireless broadband networks brings a new world of experiences - delivering new connections that enhance, advance and empower end-users. Rural communities, metro hot zones, enterprises, first responders - all segments in all regions of the world will benefit from the capabilities delivered with wireless broadband solutions.
Countries like Macedonia, that established a nationwide wireless broadband network in less than three months, are already reaping the benefits of wireless broadband. Now 95% of the country's population has access to wireless broadband Internet service. This is fueling the shift in Macedonia from an agricultural economy to an information society.
Look around the globe and you'll see this phenomenon at play. In the Philippines, SMART Communications is deploying a nationwide wireless broadband network reaching several million households over the next five years. And in Pakistan, Wateen Telecom is rolling out a nationwide broadband voice and data network based on WiMAX.
Next-generation technologies such as WiMAX should no longer be described in futuristic or visionary terms. WiMAX is a reality. With the emergence of next-generation wireless broadband solutions, we are experiencing tremendous interest from service providers including traditional wireline, wireless, cable and satellite operators along with governments and municipalities. Commitments to the technology from operators such as Sprint Nextel, Clearwire and Wateen signal a turning point.
Skeptics have labeled WiMAX a disruptive technology. They've got it half right. WiMAX is the non-disruptive, disruptive technology. On the one hand, WiMAX is changing the wireless landscape by revolutionizing delivery of wireless broadband with increased capacity and lower cost points. It is also ushering in mobile applications that untether the broadband link at home and the office - enabling instant access to the Internet anytime, anywhere. On the other hand, WiMAX is fundamentally non-disruptive because of its complementary nature. It is a piece of the wireless broadband pie that, when integrated with other wireless broadband offerings, enables seamless mobility for end-users.
With the availability of solutions such as fixed and mobile WiMAX, metro Wi-Fi, mesh networking, and wireless backhaul, providers can mix and match across wireless technology families to build the right portfolio of assets to address every access need. The integrated power of these complimentary technologies has the potential to change forever the way we connect and communicate.
THE FUTURE IS SEAMLESS MOBILITY
As customers migrate to a multitude of WiMAX-enabled consumer electronics devices in the next year, it will be incumbent upon the telecom industry to meet escalating service demands.
Today, customers want connectivity anytime and anywhere. This cannot be achieved by implementing a cookie-cutter solution for every customer's broadband needs. Whether setting up a connection to voice and data in a remote region of the world or looking for greater access to bandwidth intensive, personalized content, the technology is there to deliver wireless broadband. It is up to us, as an industry, to unite our various wireless capabilities to enable end-users to experience true seamless mobility.
Coombes is senior vice president and chief technical officer for Motorola's Networks & Enterprise.