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Wireless Marketplace
As we look across the horizon, it has become increasingly obvious that we have entered a new realm called the Global Economy. We have also embarked upon a new era of increased competition that in the U.S. for example, has been triggered by the implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This increased competition, along with the threat of market saturation looming, has forced telecommunications companies (both domestic and foreign) to look across their borders at the potential for acquiring a share of the global marketplace. However, as we continue to enter into this realm, marveling at all of the possibilities, it has also become apparent that standardization has become a critical issue. When telecommunications companies develop products, it is important that these products can operate in a Global Economy, thus alleviating the necessity for creating multiple telecommunications products that use multiple standards and protocols. From a “wireless” telecommunications standpoint, a standard is characterized by certain factors such as: the type of Radio Transmission Technology that is used, the Frequency Band that is used, and the Modulation Scheme that is used. Though there are other factors that affect standardization, these three factors play a very important role.
Fourth Generation (4G) technologies will attempt to address this issue. In the U.S. alone, Sprint and other companies are attempting to implement one such 4G technology known as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). WiMAX was created by the WiMAX Forum in an effort to address interoperability of the standard and to promote conformance. In March of 2008, the WIMAX Forum released its projections for the number of WiMAX subscribers and estimates that there will be at least 133 million by the year 2012.
To better understand the impact of standardization and interoperability, the following chart is used to highlight the differences between 3G and 4G Mobile Access Technologies.
Wireless communication continues to grow rapidly and shows no signs of slowing in the foreseeable future. As the increased quality and functionality of new wireless technology becomes more affordable, market analysts indicate that wireless networks will rival, augment, or replace wire-line networks.
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