Volume 2, Issue 6

WiMAX: The Evolution of Wireless Broadband
Last month we talked about the most common types of wireless networks. We made only brief mention of Wi-Fi, the 802.11x family of wireless networks, and even briefer mention of WiMAX, its long-range cousin. Every wireless expert should know at least the cocktail party summary of the WiMAX story. Read on and you'll know enough to get you through your first martini.

Wi-Fi is a blessing and a curse. It's liberating to wirelessly access anything at high speeds from an ordinary laptop or mobile device but hovering around an access point inhibits

In This Issue

both productivity and your social life. If you're like us you've begun selecting airports based on their density of wireless coverage and patronizing towns that support Wi-Fi (there's a good list available here). In this day in age, it's pure silliness for us to follow the network. The network should follow us. And it soon will.

Like any technology that becomes mainstream (we knew Wi-Fi achieved that status when McDonald's began rolling out hot spots last year), wireless broadband access must evolve. Most pundits agree that the next phase in the evolution is the 802.16x family of networks called WiMAX. Unfortunately, the naming scheme hasn't evolved.

WiMAX Tutorial
WiMAX networks can theoretically achieve data transmission rates of 70 Mbps (about 1,300 times the speed of a typical modem) over an area of 31 square miles compared to about 70 Mbps and 300 feet for Wi-Fi networks. It will be targeted especially at mobile users and at developing countries where traditional broadband through cable and DSL is often unavailable. One primary difference between Wi-Fi and WiMAX is that for the foreseeable future WiMAX access points will be too expensive to buy at your local hardware store - unlike commoditized Wi-Fi access points. That means you'll probably buy a WiMAX-compatible device or network card and pay for WiMAX access. No more "borrowing" your neighbor's WEP-disabled broadband. According to Michael Cai, senior analyst at the market research firm Parks Associates, "Wi-Fi is really a consumer-driven business model, while WiMax is a service provider driven business model."

WiMAX issues are overseen by The WiMAX Forum, a non-profit organization formed in April 2001 to promote the IEEE 802.16a wireless MAN, or Metropolitan Area Network, standard. The group, whose members include large companies like Alcatel and AT&T and emerging players like Airespace and BeamReach Networks, also serves to certify 802.16x equipment as interoperable. WiMAX is available today in selected metropolitan areas including parts of Hawaii, Ireland, and Texas but widespread access via built-in WiMAX chips in laptops and PDAs is not expected until late next year or early 2006.

The siren song of WiMAX is hard to resist but as with any new technology standard it is subject to regulatory delays related to spectrum licensing. All of the major wireless carriers are enthusiastic about wireless broadband but some are pursuing proprietary WiMAX alternatives to reduce time to market. Others are deploying 3G data networks using technologies like EDGE and 1XRTT to provide broadband wireless access over existing infrastructure - a source of cost savings due to the new base stations required by WiMAX.

Aeroprise Index of Wireless Activity
IOWA sagged lower for the second consecutive month, down 3.94% to 157.11. The decrease was largely attributable to reduced M&A activity in the wireless space and correspondingly less headline activity. Despite retreating more than 15% in the past two months, the stocks tracked by IOWA increased 4.8% in the past month, a period when the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 2.2% and the NASDAQ composite index remained flat.

Congratulations Contest Winners!
Congratulations to Ric Bonnick, Mark Cipolloni, and Jason Noodell - winners of Aeroprise's mobile trivia contest at last month's event at the Borgata Casino. Stay tuned for more opportunities to win great prizes. Spreading wireless love, that's what we're all about.

Upcoming Events
Remedy User Group 2004
  Washington, D.C.
  July 26-30, 2004

Aeroprise in the News
Aeroprise expands focus on healthcare and life sciences industry, announces key customer wins

Industry Buzz
Yankee Group predicts surge in mobile data revenue for wireless carriers through 2009, voice revenue will stagnate

Tip of the Month: Customizable Alerts
What if an important meeting is happening Friday or the CEO has a big presentation? What if one technician is filling in for another during vacation? In the old world, sys admins created generic alerts that went to everyone. They were supposed to be ignored by everyone except the person responsible for fixing the problem. With so many alerts, they were usually ignored by everyone.

In today's world, both workload and service expectations are higher. That old process is broken. To fix it, go to your Administration Console and create alert templates that can be customized by individual managers or technicians from their Personalization Consoles. When alerts are relevant, they're not ignored. When they're not ignored, service levels go up, response time decreases, and your cost per ticket goes down.

Trivia Question: The Price of Mobility
Question: In 1995, the average per-minute rate for a cell phone call was 56 cents. What was it in 2003?

(a) 87 cents (b) 64 cents (c) 33 cents (d) 13 cents

source: J.D. Powers
[answer in next month's newsletter]

Last month's question: The market for hardware, software, and services to support desktop to mobile communication is currently $9.3B. According to the Wireless Data Research Group, what compound annual growth rate will that market experience through 2008?

(a) 9% (b) 18% (c) 27% (d) 35%

Last month's answer: According to the Wireless Data Research Group, the market for hardware, software, and services to support desktop to mobile communication will grow at a compound annual growth rate of (b) 18%.

Resources
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