A Look at the Future: WiMAX Technology

WiMAX is a technology being developed in wireless broadband access. Integrating with old technologies such as Wi-Fi, and using upgraded technology, a faster, more secure, and wider wireless network is becoming very affordable for many people.

WiMAX stands for the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, and it promotes the conformance and interoperability of the IEEE 802.16 standard. The IEEE is a non-profit organization and professional association for the advancement of technology. It stands for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Incorporated, and they are the leading authority on aerospace systems, computers, telecommunications, biomedical engineering, electric power, consumer electronics, as well as many other fields. These standards, which were approved in December 2001, set regulations for broadband wireless metropolitan area networks, and tried to solve the problem of broadband wireless access at the last mile. There was a need to improve upon Ethernet with both increased speed and functionality (Gartner Research).

The 802.16 standard utilizes a large part of the radio frequency spectrum, but permission has to be granted to use a specific frequency. The biggest segment is somewhere around 2.5 GHz and has already been given largely to Sprint Nextel and Clearwire technologies. WiMAX is currently being used in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Croatia, Columbia, Ireland, Finland, France, Georgia, Slovakia, the UK, and the United States. WiMAX promises to bring 40 Mbps transfers up to a radius of three to ten kilometers. Mobile WiMAX plans to achieve 15 Mbps of up to three kilometers (Gartner Research).