Despite the optimism, industry leaders also pointed to obstacles ranging from high-level regulatory issues to infighting among equipment vendors over definitions of "WiMax ready" and questions of the true market potential of VoIP and its role as a driver of broadband wireless.
While cautioning against the dangers of too much "hype," Intel's Richardson still sees WiMax as an answer to rural last-mile broadband access and as a filler where cable and digital subscriber lines don't exist. "But it's also a high-speed data overlay for metro regions," where it can potentially complement and offload 3G networks, he said. "Also, Wi-Fi can be used indoors, and then the user can switch to WiMax outside the building."
Profile questions
Issues of the profiles to be used are being worked out, said Mo Shakouri, vice president of the WiMax Forum and assistant vice president of business development at Alvarion. The latest profile definition calls for both frequency-division and time-division duplex operation in the 3.5-GHz band, with channel widths of 3.5 MHz (FDD) and 3.5 and 7 MHz (TDD). For the 5.8-GHz band, the profile calls for 10-MHz bands with TDD operation.
For the wider broadband wireless market, regulators used panels and open discussions here to share their views on the role of VoIP as the market's potential driver. "Is VoIP the killer app for broadband [in general]?" asked Federal Communications Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. "If so, then it will also be a driver for wireless broadband." VoIP, he said, "has incredible abilities; it can break everything open " costs, services, conferencing, call forwarding " so we want to get it out there."
But Peter Pitsch, chairman of the Voice on the Net Coalition, said VoIP still faces problems, ranging from basic economics to social issues such as the privacy implications of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (Calea) over IP networks and E911 compliance. Pitsch argued that access fees should be set at the federal, not state, level. "The commission [FCC] should rely on private industry to solve Calea and E911 " with the government only weighing in if industry fails," he said.
