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February 14, 2008

WiMax Adds 700 MHz Profile

By Glenn Fleishman

Key addition by WiMax will make it possible for 700 MHz licenseholders to deploy WiMax: There’s been some debate over what kind of radio technology could be deployed in 700 MHz; Alan Andrews wrote up his analysis, and found that few specs that are deployed or in the process work for the amount of spectrum involved. That’s changed as of yesterday, with the WiMax Forum announcing a plan to create a roadmap—yes, that’s not precisely the same as having a roadmap—for a 700 MHz WiMax profile.

Having a profile means that manufacturers can work to a common spec, chipmakers can develop around a single set of ideas, and devices can be certified as compliant, which allows operators to purchase gear without having to engage in their own extensive and expensive testing. (They’ll still test, but this lowers the bar considerably, as they can examine networks that are already built if they arrive late to the party.)

I imagine this will take a couple years to reach full fruition, which is the timeline for real deployment in 700 MHz in the U.S., too.

Posted by Glennf at February 14, 2008 10:15 AM

Categories: 700 MHz, future technologies

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Posted by: Alan at February 15, 2008 7:08 PM

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