Mobile Broadband

Mobile Broadband

WiMAX Broadband

What is WiMAX?

WiMAX is a next-generation wireless technology that has the capacity to provide interconnectivity between different broadband formats, like fixed home connections and mobile broadband.

What does it mean?

WiMAX is a contraction of the phrase Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access, which refers to the fact that it provides a working link ('interoperability') between different types of broadband connection.

The term was coined by an organisation called the WiMAX Forum, which is a body devoted to ensuring that WiMAX-standard wireless technologies are compatible with each other. Its official name is WirelessMAN.

How is it used?

The primary purpose of WiMAX is to provide wireless broadband access. So far, it has mainly been used by broadband companies to provide connections to places that are not served by a standard wired infrastructure, such as isolated or rural areas. The largest network to date is operated by Wateen Telecom and serves 17 cities in Pakistan.
Unlike Wi-Fi, the technology has the capacity to connect large areas (like cities) while maintaining high connection speeds. WiMAX connections can be shared between many thousands of people.

What does this mean for broadband?

Potentially, WiMAX could be used to provide broadband connections in what is known as the 'last mile', which is the distance between the telephone exchange and the homes around it. Using wireless technology to make this connection would save time and money, and prevent disruption caused by the laying of fibre optic cables.

Is WiMAX available in the UK?

No. So far, the technology has been rolled out in places like Australia, the Indian sub-continent and America, but there is currently no WiMAX network in this country.
The success - or otherwise - of WiMAX in these countries will determine whether or not UK companies decide to use it as a way of providing connections in the last mile.

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