About the authors
Russell Shaw is a specialist in mobile computing, telephony, networking and covers these fields regularly for numerous print and online publications. Russ writes the popular IP Telephony blog on ZDNet and contributes regularly to The Industry Standard blog as well. Author of seven books, Russ' latest book is Wireless Networking Made Easy.
John Yunker is president of Byte Level Research. He closely tracks emerging wireless technologies and their impact on consumers and carriers alike. Over the years he has written a number of major reports on technologies such as Wi-Fi, WiMAX and cellular technologies.
About this blog
Unwired studies emerging wireless technologies and how they complement and conflict with one another. Technologies covered include: Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Ultra-Wideband, Zigbee, EV-DO, UMTS, HSDPA and whatever else comes along.
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Monthly Archives
January 31, 2005
Posted by John Yunker
I see that the WiMAX backlash is in full effect. I agree with much of the criticism and I certainly have my share of issues with the folks at the WiMAX Forum, but I think we are now witnessing a backlash bubble of sorts.
Yes, interoperability testing is behind schedule and, yes, PR hacks and reporters continue to over-promise the near-term benefits of WiMAX. But I also find that much of the criticism of WiMAX is based on a developed-market view of telecommunications. The US has a plethora of wired and wireless options and, with DSL prices continuing to fall, it is not surprising that a profitable WiMAX business model is tough to imagine in many markets.
But when you look at markets without a fixed line infrastructure, the picture changes dramatically. In these markets, cost per bit isn't near where it needs to be to drive deployments of 3G or proprietary fixed wireless networks. Wi-Fi can fill some of these gaps, but it's not carrier-ready, particularly regarding VoIP. WiMAX is technically sound and an excellent carrier technlogy for supporting VoIP. The issues behind the WiMAX Forum delays right now have to do with bickering over spectrum, scope, control, marketing -- all important stuff, but not insurmountable.
Steve Stroh writes that emerging markets need cheap wireless broadband. I believe that WiMAX will be one of the technologies that serves that need.
And back to developed markets. I also have every reason to believe that our wireless consumption will continue to escalate at a rate that will compel all carriers to look at WiMAX to share the load. But this will take time. While it is tempting to say WiMAX will fail because it's behind schedule, many people said (and continue to say) the very same thing about 3G.
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January 18, 2005
Blink ›
The Future Of Wireless
Corante has launched a special section devoted to the Future of Wireless. It's worth a look. The first feature is a Q&A with the founders of Dodgeball.
posted by John Yunker |
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January 17, 2005
Posted by John Yunker
As reported in the WSJ last week, a group of California Verizon Wireless customers are suing their carrier for selling them a "disabled" Motorola V710 handset.
So let me get this right, the first "Bluetooth-enabled" handset that Verizon Wireless brought to market was disabled?
That's right.
The lawsuit rightfully contends that when a carrier advertises Bluetooth support that is must support the degree of Bluetooth that consumers come to expect. In other words, just leave the technology alone and let it work as it was intended.
Verizon wants customers to use Bluetooth only for wireless handset capabilities, not for syncing their handsets with their computers or, worse, downloading ring tones and other "premium" content from outside Verizon's walled garden. As one customer said, "It's like buying an SUV that can't go in the mud."
This is a timely lawsuit and should serve notice to all service providers who believe that consumers will passively consume what wireless features they are fed. Thanks to Wi-Fi and other wireless devices, consumers are growing both savvy and demanding about wireless technology. They know what Bluetooth is capable of and they're going to be pretty upset if anyone stands in the way of that functionality. The same goes for Wi-Fi, which is gradually making its way into carrier portfolios.
Cellular carriers want to think of themselves as cable operators, who charge a monthly fee for "basic" connectivity plus make a bunch more money from "premium content." But the walled garden only works when there are walls, and thanks to a new wave of fixed wireless upstarts and newly motivated incumbents, like SBC and BellSouth, no carrier (wired or wireless) will win by walling in their customers.
The carriers of the future will tear down the walls between wired and wireless, TV and computer, home and work. The carriers of the future will function as personal systems integrators, selling services and not pipes. Verizon Wireless and Vodafone kid themselves in thinking they can control the handset manufacturers and, as a result, the consumers; it is a stopgap measure at best. Every disabled device represents a disabled business model. The walls will fall down.
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+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Big Picture | Cellular | Wi-Fi
January 15, 2005
Posted by John Yunker
Dave Mock writes in support of municipal wireless. I'm also glad to see Intel throwing its weight in support of cities that want to take control of their airspace. I'm not saying all cities should get into the ISP business; I'm just saying that they should have the freedom to hire whatever service providers they want to deploy and manage their wireless networks. The incumbents had their chance to be innovative and aggressive and they blew it. And, frankly, they simply can't move quickly enough to support all the applications that cities want to support over these networks.
Litigation may impede innovation, but it won't stop it. Cities and states watch one another and they will quickly learn that those that are not restricted by Pennsylvania-like legislation are improving their tax base by attracting citizens lured by low-cost or free wireless, are improving city services by saving money on municipal employee communications, providing broadband to their police and emergency services people at a fraction of the cost of 3G networks, and improving security, asset tracking, and, well, the list goes on.
This is a revolution and, like most revolutions, it is encountering fierce resistance. But the incumbents are too late to ban muni-wireless in every state. Wi-Fi created a monster: a more savvy wireless consumer. Once people install Wi-Fi in their homes they realize that wireless isn't quite so complicated after they. These people go to work and they demand Wi-Fi there as well. It is only natural for cities to fall in love with home networking.
Savvy wireless consumers are a fact of life and those service providers who learn to speak up to consumers rather than talk down to consumers will be the providers who succeed in the years ahead.
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Posted by John Yunker
Chinese telecoms vendor ZTE has announced that it will begin cranking out WiMAX gear using Intel chips.
I'm glad to see ZTE gearing up for commercial WiMAX gear. I think that this company in particular will play a large role in helping WiMAX live up to its hype. That's because ZTE has built a nice global business on undercutting the Nortels of the world with less-expensive gear. If WiMAX is going to succeed big, it needs to be disruptively inexpensive and ZTE is just the company to get it there.
I also believe that ZTE's larger goal for WiMAX is to leverage the technology to help it gain handset market share. WiMAX, as I've said before, is the "poor carrier's 3G." Many carriers want to offer 3G-like services but simply can't justify the 3G equipment prices. WiMAX might fill that gap quite nicely.
For instance, a "limited mobility" technology known as PHS has been successful in China because it allows carriers to offer consumers a cellular service at low cost with a low geographic range. ZTE just happens to be the market leader with PHS in China. WiMAX could very well be viewed by ZTE as the next-generation PHS.
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January 12, 2005
Blink ›
Bluetooth Bouncing Back
Here's a very good blog about how Bluetooth appears to be not only hanging in there, but succeeding rather nicely. Perhaps it was just a matter of getting those unit costs low enough so that vendors no longer hesitate to embed it within devices.
posted by John Yunker |
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January 11, 2005
Posted by John Yunker
WiMAX has often been viewed as competitive to 3G or DSL networks. But I've always asked the question: Why can't a service provider use both?
Well, it looks like Lucent has been asking that same question. They just announced a partnership with Alvarion to begin merging WiMAX with their existing 3G and wireline portfolio. This is great news for Alvarion.
Here's the full release:
Lucent Technologies to Integrate Alvarion's WiMAX-Ready Platform into Its Converged Networking Portfolio
Lucent and Alvarion Partner to Deliver Converged Networking Solution That Enables Service Providers to Complement Existing 3G Mobile and Wireline Networks with WiMAX
MURRAY HILL, N.J -- Jan. 11, 2005--Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) today announced its plans to integrate WiMAX technology, based on the IEEE's 802.16 standard, through Alvarion's (NASDAQ:ALVR) BreezeMAX(TM) product line -- into its Accelerate(TM) Next Generation Communications Solutions portfolio, which includes Lucent's industry-leading IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) solution. Lucent's IMS-based convergence solution, which will include support for WiMAX, can help service providers deliver seamless communications services across a variety of wireless and wireline networks and enables the introduction of new converged "lifestyle" service bundles that can increase customer satisfaction and reduce customer churn.
Lucent will team with Alvarion, a market leader in wireless broadband networks, to deliver a converged networking solution to service providers that includes the seamless interoperability of WiMAX, third-generation (3G) mobile (CDMA2000(R) and W-CDMA/UMTS), WiFi and wireline networks. Additionally, as part of this initiative, Lucent Worldwide Services (LWS) will provide a comprehensive suite of deployment, maintenance, and professional services to support WiMAX infrastructure and applications, further extending LWS' multi-vendor services capabilities in important growth markets.
"WiMAX clearly complements existing and emerging 3G mobile and wireline networks, and can play a significant role in helping our customers deliver converged service offerings that can be accessed using a broad range of devices on a wide variety of networks," said John Marinho, vice president of strategic marketing for Lucent Technologies. "Our Bell Labs expertise, industry-leading IMS portfolio, best-in-class 3G mobile and broadband wireline solutions, and end-to-end services capabilities place Lucent in the best position to implement WiMAX technology as part of a converged networking solution. We're very excited to work with Alvarion because they are the front-runners and thought leaders in the WiMAX arena and this relationship will enhance our product portfolio."
BreezeMAX is Alvarion's 3G OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) platform with advanced Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) functionality and a leading WiMAX-ready platform.
"Alvarion is pleased to be selected by Lucent for our outstanding WiMAX-ready product portfolio leveraged by our 10 plus years of experience in the wireless field," said Zvi Slonimsky, CEO of Alvarion. "No doubt this relationship will be a vehicle in the evolution of the fixed broadband wireless market to widespread availability of mobile broadband and reflects our commitment to the future of WiMAX."
The underlying foundation of Lucent's converged networking portfolio is the Lucent IMS solution, a service delivery platform that enables service providers to simply and cost-effectively introduce new voice over IP (VoIP) and multimedia services. Lucent's IMS solution enables operators to deliver services that blend voice and data capabilities, simplifying the creation of converged "lifestyle" service bundles. It also helps reduce the introduction costs and time-to-market for new services by leveraging a common applications infrastructure to deliver services with a common "look and feel" across 3G mobile, WiFi, WiMAX, and wireline networks.
Both companies are members of the WiMAX Forum(TM), an industry-led organization that facilitates the compatibility and certification of broadband wireless access equipment, with Alvarion holding several prominent positions on the board. The WiMAX Forum is expected to certify products as WiMAX Forum Certified(TM) later this year. By working with Alvarion and the WiMAX Forum, Lucent will ensure that WiMAX is compatible with 3G mobile and wireline networks, and that it meets service provider requirements for quality, reliability and performance.
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+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Cellular | WiMAX & Fixed Wireless
Posted by John Yunker
The thing that always bugged me about the McDonald's Wi-Fi rollout was the lack of decent coffee. Well, that's about to change; according to USA Today premium coffee is on its way to 13,000 locations over the next 18 months.
Add premium coffee to Wi-Fi, along with plenty of seating, and McDonald's has a nice case for attracting road warriors. The ultimate key to success will be how the Wi-Fi is offered and for how much money. But based on SBC's early actions, I'm betting it's going to be a lot less expensive than what T-Mobile charges in Starbucks locations.
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January 10, 2005
Posted by John Yunker
This from the folks at Hotel Online:
"Wireless HSIA continued its meteoric adoption rate, with ever more hotel chains adopting it as a brand standard, usually on a free-to-guest basis. It's not clear how much longer the hold-outs can still charge for the service, especially as they don't seem to provide any significantly better quality, speed or reliability in the connection."
I agree. The "hold-outs" will charge for Wi-Fi for at least another year or two. In doing so, they will slowly lose their loyal customers to upstart hotels who embrace free Wi-Fi as a competitive amenity. When the hold-outs awaken, they will have lost market share in exchange for minimal revenues.
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Posted by John Yunker
Tech pundit Bob Cringley's annual predictions are always a good read. Here are his wireless predictions:
->WiMax will be a huge story by summer, but widespread adoption of the wireless networking technology will take at least another two years. In the meantime, though, nobody will make money on WiFi, but it will become ubiquitous anyway, especially with the arrival of 802.11n.
( I'm not sure WiMAX can be much more of a "huge" story than it is already. I would add that Wi-Fi will become known more for the applications it supports [see below] than for simply providing Internet access.)
-> VoIP will continue to shatter the telephone industry with the arrival of WiFi phones, which might finally be the killer app for hotspots. Eventually, all the backbone suppliers will figure out that VoIP is their salvation and will either start their own VoIP companies or ally with big VoIP players.
(I agree. Wi-Fi phones [standalone or embedded within PDAs and cellular handsets] are going to give carriers a reason to invest in hotspots; they're a lot cheaper than base stations and can often be partially supported by the venue.)
-> Two thousand five will NOT be the year for UltraWide Band (UWB) networking or Power Line Networking, but both will do really well in 2006.
(After spending time at CES, it's safe to say we'll see commercial UWB products, primarily for wireless USB. However, we will also see a blending of power line and UWB technology for pretty nifty hi-def home networking. But much of this will take until 2006 I'm afraid.)
You can read Bob's full list of predictions here.
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+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Cellular | Ultra-Wideband (UWB) | VoIP | Wi-Fi | WiMAX & Fixed Wireless
January 05, 2005
Blink ›
Cisco Buying Airespace
If Cisco does buy Airespace, this will be one smart purchase, akin to the Linksys deal. Airespace was making nice inroads on Cisco's market share and really understands how to help enterprises make the most of their Wi-Fi grids.
posted by John Yunker |
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Posted by John Yunker
Unstrung has published an introductory guide to WiMAX. It's a worth a read if you need the basics, but it does fail to mention other WiMAX-like technologies such as Flash-OFDM (Flarion) and UMTS TDD that are live today and gaining carrier support. And there is the inherent tendency among carriers to stick with predictable and "safe" migration paths - GPRS/UMTS/HSPA, for example. But I digress...
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+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: WiMAX & Fixed Wireless
Posted by John Yunker
I'm at CES right now and am going through the phone-book-sized exhibitor directory. If there is one immediate beneficiary of convergence, it's the Consumer Electronics Association. Thanks to the convergence of TV, radio, wireless, Internet, satellite, etc., this conference has 2,400+ exhibitors and 120,000+ attendees. Not too shabby.
I'm still not convinced that this show will be all that remarkable, but hope springs eternal. Here is what I would like to see over the next few days:
1. Ultra-Wideband breaks into the home (finally). This press release is a very good sign that UWB is going to make it into homes in 2005. Yes, this is about two years later than many people (including me) once predicted, but better late than never. The press release announces a partnership between Intellon and Freescale to run HDTV throughout the home using both HomePlug Powerline and UWB. This is a smart move and both of these guys need to do what they can right now to fend off higher-speed Wi-Fi. I also expect to see wireless USB in 2005, powered by UWB. This may be less glamorous, but it could ultimately make UWB ubiquitous.
2. Wi-Fi in every device. Okay, this won't happen in 2005, but I'm seeing good signs that it will happen. The Wi-Fi "grid" that is developing in offices, homes, airports, hotels, coffee shops, convention centers, hospitals, parks, libraries (you get the idea) will drive more and more device manufacturers to embed the technology, power consumption be damned. The key development is Wi-Fi within cellular phones. It's already happening and I expect more in 2005 - including that Wi-Fi-powered Blackberry.
3. Craig Barrett of Intel be a little more clear about what WiMAX is and, more important, what WiMAX is not. All these reporters (and a few carrier executives) need to be better educated about this technology. I firmly believe WiMAX will succeed, but we need to be realistic about its potential and its timeline.
4. Ed Whitacre at SBC says something signifiicant about his company's commitment to Wi-Fi. I expect him to talk more about TV and convergence, but am still hoping for a Wi-Fi announcement. I'm glad to see Ed here and am impressed at how aggressive SBC has been in 2004 regarding Wi-Fi and converged devices and service plans. I don't think everything they're doing will succeed, but they are rightly trying to graduate from raw Internet access to applications.
5. Finally, I hope to see VoIP move from "cheap long distance" to "next-gen telecoms." Vonage just passed the 400,000 subscriber mark (gaining 300,000 in 2004) but I suspect the bulk of these folks came onboard primarily to save money. Hey, so did I. But what's really exciting about VoIP are video and location-based applications. I hope to see more devices and service providers taking VoIP to the next level. SBC already is on its way...
Anyway, enough from me. On to the show...
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