WiBro

Description:

Wireless Broadband, or WiBro, is based on the same standard as WiMAX, 802.16, but WiBro continues to work in motion and is therefore sometimes referred to as mobile WiMAX. WiBro is promoted as bringing mobile broadband access speeds to levels until now seen only on fixed-line networks.

WiBro-enabled cellphones allow always-on connections to the Internet, eliminating connection delays and permitting a service similar to that of a broadband fixed-line connection. Samsung developed WiBro in South Korea, where the commercial rollout is scheduled for the coming months, and the technology is now making inroads in the rest of the world.

Telecom Italia Mobile and Samsung tested Europe's first WiBro network in Turin during the Olympic Games in February. Telecom Italia Mobile has said it will begin selling WiBro phones at the beginning of next year, when it will make the WiBro service available. Source

Enablers:

- Mobility
- The Increasing Use of Internet
- Increasing Mobility
- Need for Information On Demand
- Power of Information-anywhere, everywhere
- Wireless is better than wire

Inhibitors:

- Wi-Fi
- Cost of Setting up a Wi-Fi Network
- The Rapid Increase in WiFi Transmission Rates
- Voice over Wi-Fi (Vo-Wi-Fi) will be released

Paradigms:

WiMAX will allow people to go from their homes to their cars, and then travel to their offices or anywhere in the world, all seamlessly. It will allow them to have complete freedom while staying connected.

Experts:

- WiMAX Forum
- Intel

Timing:

- 2004: The current 802.16 standard is approved
- 2005: Major cities in the USA are powered with WiMAX
- 2005: Roll-out in Chile
- 2005: The WiMAX systems began certification testing
- 2006: Roll-out in South-Korea, Japan and Colombia

Web Resources:

Wikipedia