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" This early in the game, it&amp;#039;s nearly impossible to predict the fate of Xohm, America&amp;#039;s next-generation WiMAX network promised for so long now by telco Sprint Nextel. Elsewhere in the world, however, the standard appears to be catching on. The deployments in 110 different countries , from India and China to Chile and Argentina, have some significant differences from Sprint&amp;#039;s proposed network, but could still offer an interesting peek at what the United States may be in for--and what further missteps to avoid. In the United States, WiMAX has been pitched primarily as a mobile wireless broadband solution, featuring Internet speeds that are 3 to 5 times faster than the current offerings from AT&amp;amp;amp;T and Verizon Wireless. Sprint says to expect average download speeds of 2 to 3 megabits per second (Mbps), but peak speeds could end up at 10 Mbps or more. Such numbers would make it possible not only to surf the Web at true broadband speeds and watch streaming videos on a train (sans hiccups) but also would usher in the era of two-way, mobile-to-mobile video calls (assuming anybody is really interested in that). Sprint&amp;#039;s Xohm service is currently in &amp;quot;soft launch&amp;quot; mode in Chicago and the Baltimore-Washington area, according to Sprint spokesman John Polivka. The full launch, however, has already been pushed back from this spring to &amp;quot;later this year&amp;quot; because of a lack of back-haul capacity, and some industry observers worry that the WiMAX effort in the U.S. may have stalled too long. Meanwhile, WiMAX looks to be gaining momentum elsewhere around the globe--without the mobile hook. In India, for example, Tata Communications has begun rolling out a WiMAX service for consumers and businesses as a fixed wireless solution. That&amp;#039;s because despite the influence of new technology in the country, only about 3.1 million of India&amp;#039;s 1.2 billion Indian residents have broadband Internet access. So, rather than delivering 4G wireless speeds, WiMAX is seen as a quick fix.  &amp;quot;India is starting with a clean slate and desperately needs broadband,&amp;quot; says Wolfgang Mack, a spokesperson for Telsima Corp., which is providing much of the equipment for the Tata network. The network officially launched last month with 3000 base stations deployed in Bangalore and New Delhi, and Tata hopes to create the world&amp;#039;s largest WiMAX network, reaching 110 cities in the country. Rapid deployment is just one attraction of WiMAX in India, says Mack. Another is that the explosion of construction there has made landlines vulnerable to cuts and service interruptions, whereas wireless connections can easily be rerouted around problems. Initially, the Tata WiMAX service will be aimed at home and business users. There are not currently any WiMAX compatible mobile handsets in India, according to Mack, but he points out that the network can easily accommodate mobile devices in the future. Mobile broadband remains a major push, however, here in the States. &amp;quot;Nobody wants to be tethered anymore for Internet access,&amp;quot; Sprint&amp;#039;s Polivka points out. After Intel unveiled a lineup of WiMAX-enabled pocket PCs, Nokia debuted the WiMAX edition of its popular N810 tablet, which will be available for about the same price, $400, in the first Xohm markets early this summer. Samsung also plans to make a PC card WiMAX adapter available for laptop users in the same time frame. Sprint wants Xohm to be adopted in as many devices as possible, so the company will offer a software developers&amp;#039; kit in May to encourage consumer electronics companies, handset makers and third-party applications developers to hop on the WiMAX bandwagon. Indeed, several car telematics and navigation companies are looking closely at WiMAX. The faster connections could give drivers more accurate traffic data and deliver constant updates for location-based information, such as changing gas prices, nearby hotels and restaurants. Some early WiMAX launches have not met expectations. In Australia, Buzz Broadband made headlines in the geekosphere when it pulled the plug on its WiMAX initiative, which was aimed at providing VoIP phone service. Then the company&amp;#039;s CEO, Garth Freeman, lambasted the technology for failing to meet expectations regarding coverage areas. (One of the WiMAX suppliers to Buzz later cited a lack of investment for the project&amp;#039;s failure.)  On the other hand, demonstrations for the press presented by Motorola last year appeared to support the technology&amp;#039;s promise. Sprint also claims its testing has gone well thus far. And India&amp;#039;s Tata is aiming for between 200,000 and 500,000 WiMAX subscribers by March of next year.  Naturally, other wireless carriers in the U.S. plan their own higher-speed services. Verizon and AT&amp;amp;amp;T recently spent an estimated $18.5 billion in a government auction for licenses in the old UHF TV 700-MHz band. The 700-MHz frequency transmissions can easily penetrate buildings, and the two companies plan to the use the band for a next-generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless data service with speeds that could be 10 times faster than WiMAX. Nevertheless, Sprint believes it has a two-year head start on LTE, and rumors abound that one of the losers in the government&amp;#039;s 700-MHz auction, Google, is considering an investment in Sprint&amp;#039;s WiMAX service. It could be an ideal play to match Google&amp;#039;s open mobile phone platform, Android. Also rumored to be interested in ponying up as much as $2.5 billion for a nationwide WiMAX network are cable companies Comcast and Time Warner, which are looking for new ways to reach mobile subscribers. And after what Verizon and AT&amp;amp;amp;T have already spent, that size of an investment may seem like a bargain. Only time will tell. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a2826/4261215/>