WiMAX, one of many broadband wireless standards, is finally making progress—despite the massive competition.

For those of us who monitor the progress of the various new wireless technologies, it always seems like it takes decades for any new standard to take off and hit its intended stride. Okay, maybe not decades, but it sure seems like it. I have watched Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ultra wideband (UWB) slog through their various stages of development and each seems to be doing okay—especially Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which are well established. UWB is still "emerging," but is finally finding some niches to dominate. And now, at last, I can report that WiMAX, the promising broadband wireless solution, seems to be making its way into the mainstream. WiMAX overlaps with lots of other wireless technologies, but, like most of those technologies, it appears that it may find its place.

A New Brand of Wireless

WiMAX is shorthand for Wireless Interoperability of Microwave Access, the general name given to radios that comply with the IEEEs 802.16 standard. This standard defines a broadband wireless technology that was designed initially to deliver fast Internet data access wirelessly to compete with cable and DSL (digital subscriber line) services. It is finding its way in that competitive arena, especially in rural areas that are not well served by existing broadband connections. That first standard is called 802.16d or 802.16-2004 or fixed WiMAX. A later standard, known as 802.16e or 802.16-2005, is called mobile WiMAX. The mobile version is robust enough to deliver very high-speed data connections—even in moving vehicles—and could even compete with cell phone service.

With the standards in place and lots of companies already making chips and boxes, we have all wondered why there hasn’t been some WiMAX services we could subscribe to. The answer is a complex one, dominated by issues like competition from other services, the need for big time capital investments in the infrastructure, and the general lack of suitable spectrum. But now it seems like these problems are being solved. Two recent occurrences make me, and lots of others, believe that WiMAX is finally a done deal.

First, Sprint Nextel has stepped up and stuck their neck out a long way to offer WiMAX in many U.S. markets in late 2007 and 2008. The company is spending about $3 billion over the next two years to build basestations and related back haul to handle the service once it is launched. And Sprint Nextel is working with handset and basestation vendors to make sure that end user products are available to use the services.

Second, an early player in WiMAX, Clearwire, just recently completed an initial public offering that brought in about $600 million to fund the build out of their proposed networks. But will all this investment pay off? The question of return on investment is an age-old business question, so we will have to wait and see. But at least Sprint and Clearwire are taking the chance. Hopefully this will kick off additional investments in WiMAX that will make it successful.