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Does WiMAX Stand a Chance Against Cellular Broadband?

5:30 am on January 12, 2006 | Category: Business, Cellular, WiMAX, Wireless Technology

With more and more hardware manufacturers choosing to embed cellular broadband technology into new laptop computer models, it appears that these 3G cellular technologies could pose a threat to the Intel-backed WiMAX networking standard.

WiMAX is a much longer-range version of the popular but restrictive Wi-Fi, which requires base stations to transmit wireless radio signals. It could potentially be very beneficial to consumers, but the fact remains that there simply arenâ€™t enough base stations in place yet to make WiMAX widespread.

Intel has had high hopes of building an extensive wireless broadband network that would span across America, but many analysts believe that existing cellular networks have beat them to it with 3G technologies like EV-DO and HSDPA.

Intel, however, still believes that a nationwide WiMAX network is worth creating, and would ultimately complement 3G wireless technology, rather than compete with it.

Whether the two technologies can exist side by side is hard to say, but it will depend greatly on Intelâ€™s ability to convince people that WiMAX truly offers them something more than they are already getting from cellular broadband.

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