WiMax: One Step Closer to Life in a Broadband Cloud - TheShellyPalmerReport

How fast was the wireless network on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise Its mission was to quotboldly go where no one had gone beforequot And to do that Gene Roddenberry imagined a space vehicle the size of a small city with a very powerful computer network and a serious wireless broadband cloud It may have been science fiction in the 60s but this week it got one step closer to realityComcast Time Warner Cable Intel Google Bright House Networks Clearwire Sprint Nextel and some other telecommunications companies have formed a consortium to build the first next generation wireless network using a technology called WiMax When it is built consumers will be able to enjoy some very advanced wireless features so advanced in fact the network and the devices that use it will actually change our behaviors on a large scale Highspeed wireless broadband clouds will change telecommunications entertainment retail medical financial services government and criminal activity These are just a few of the benefits of cloud living but don39t get too excited It39s two to four years awayWiMax aka 80216 has been around for a while It has the potential to carry video voice and data just like WiFi only it39s much faster How fast It depends on a number of variables On the low end you can expect speeds that are similar to a ADSL connection 15 Mbps down 768 Kbps up like you get from your phone company over telephone lines on the high end maybe 6 Mbps symmetrical like you might purchase from your cable provider The true benefit of this technology is that it is quotper personquot not quotper householdquot That39s the possible upside The possible downside is the same as it is today You can only carry a 15 watt transceiver in your pocket by law and that means that the efficacy of the network39s upstream capacity will be limited by the number of towers that can be erected in a given area just like cell phone towersThat being said a great deal of value can be found on the receivingside or downlink side of any network If you39re watching a movie or looking at a live image being sent by a friend it39s all about downlink speedIs WiMax really a great way to create a broadband cloud Verizon and ATampampT don39t thinks so They along with TMobile are working with a competing and incompatible technology called LTE Long Term Evolution Some say it will not be as fast as a WiMax network but engineering arguments aside the important issue is that the two systems are incompatible In other words wireless device manufacturers will have to choose one system or the other for each device they wish to market This is a very unfortunate reality for our communications future In fact it is antithetical to the spirit of the quotopen sourcequot provision that Verizon agreed to adhere to Yes anyone can make a device that will work with the new Verizon network but leave an area covered by that network and your device will not work Sounds like the early days of cell phone service right Only one caveat back in the day when you left one provider39s service area your devices still worked you just got charged extra for quotroamingquot This will not be the case here If you have a Verizon LTE device and you leave the 4G network area your device will not function The answer is simple and obvious create a nationwide network Good thought Who will write the check When your cell phone doesn39t work in a rural area or in a pocket of lowdensity population you just wait until you get into a covered area It39s inconvenient but not fatal But that39s not how we39re going to use advanced wireless devices Think of how your life would change if you could carry your laptop in the palm of your hand it had an interface like an iPhone the capabilities of a MacBook Pro and the speed of a fast cable modem You would very quickly come to rely on the benefits of such a device Instant search maps entertainment commerce coupons business and financial transactions supermarket checkout the list goes on foreverNow leave the coverage area Oops This will not be like your cell phone reception going dark in a specific area for a while If you think about ubiquitous wireless highspeed Internet access you also need to think about storing your data in the cloud Imagine how your life would change with unlimited storage accessible via your device as opposed to stored on it Once you change your behaviors you will not be able to transact your digital life outside the cloud Humm amp8230 Maybe we won39t have digital livesSome people just shrug this off and say Betamax v VHS Bluray v HD DVD but there may not be a clear winner here for years And even if there is will they be economically incentivized to create a truly nationwide ubiquitous network What will consumers do in the meantime The good news is that the average lifespan of a wireless device is only a few years Everyone who has a use for the additional benefits of mobile highspeed will have a chance to own several generations of devices before this all gets worked outWhen the history of 21st Century interpersonal communication is written it will start with the story of this consortium trying to do what the best of us aspire to quotto boldly going where no one has gone beforequotShelly Palmer is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted The Transition from Network to Networked TV 2006 Focal Press Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts ampamp Sciences NY the organization that bestows the coveted Emmyamp174 Awards He is the ViceChairman of the National Academy of Media Arts ampamp Sciences an organization dedicated to education and leadership in the areas of technology media and entertainment Palmer also oversees the Advanced Media Technology Emmyamp174 Awards which honors outstanding achievements in the science and technology of advanced media You can read Shellyamp8217s blog here Shelly can be reached at shellypalmernetCheck out the Shelly Palmer Report 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WiMax: One Step Closer to Life in a Broadband Cloud - TheShellyPalmerReport

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