WiMAX certainly does have limitations, all wireless communications protocols have issues.

It is important to note that WiMAX remains a draft proposal and in this ‘incomplete’ state there will definitely be issues and challenges. Expect these to become less of a problem once a final technical standard has been approved.

As for poor Garth-O Down Under, D nails it on the head. Most likely his issues have to do with the equipment he is using and how he has chosen to deploy his network.

Should not shake anyone’s belief in WiMAX or any other future technology that will keep internet traffic off of expensive mobile networks. This remains the best alternative to provide low-cost access to those who cannot afford it.

20/03/2008 09:37:00 - by Martyn Warwick & Commsday

One of the world’s first WiMAX operators, Hervey Bay, of Australia’s
Buzz Broadband, has closed the network, with the CEO labeling the
technology as a “disaster” that has “failed miserably.”

In an astonishing outburst before the audience at an international
WiMAX conference audience in Bangkok, Thailand, CEO Garth Freeman
slammed the technology, saying its non-line of sight performance
was “non-existent” beyond two kilometres from the base station, that
indoor performance decayed at a mere 400 metres and that latency
rates reached as high as 1000 milliseconds.

Mr. Freeman said poor latency and jitter made the technology
unsuitable and unacceptable for many Internet applications in general
and for VoIP in particular. Buzz used to extol the virtues of VoIP,
hyping it as a main selling point as it sought to persuade people to
sign-up for the new service and dump old ones supplied by the
incumbent .

Garth Freeman told delegates, “WiMAX may not work,” adding that the
technology remains “mired in opportunistic hype.” The CEO also
emphasised that most WiMAX deployments are still in the trials stage
and that the technology is attractive to and used by used by “start-
up carriers” and is only supported by “second-tier vendors”.

He then contrasted WiMAX with HSPA and pointed out that there are
already 154 commercial networks in operation and that the technology
has the full backing of top tier vendors.

What made Freeman’s tirade all the more extraordinary was that just
12 months ago he fronted the same event and gave an upbeat and
overwhelmingly positive appraisal of the platform – a platform that
he had deployed just a few months before.

At the time, Garth Freeman said his company had signed 10 per cent of
its 55,000 user target market in just two months, a market share that
quickly rose to 25 per cent on the back of an advertising campaign
that highlighted cheap VoIP prices.

But back then, Mr.

Freeman also acknowledge dthat WiMAX technology has indoor coverage
issues. Indeed, at this week’s Bangkok meeting, the CEO revealed that
his frankness last year had resulted in a sharp reprimand from his
supplier, Airspan. The company was unhappy that its equipment had
been implicitly criticised.

Elsewhere, other early WiMAX adopters have also reported issues with
indoor coverage. Late last year VSNL of India said at an IEEE
conference that indoor signal loss occurs just 200 metres from a base
station.

Garth Freeman says Buzz has now abandoned WiMAX and will pursue a
a “horses for courses” policy. This includes use of the TD-CDMA
standard at 1.9GHz – used by operators such as New Zealand’s Woosh
Wireless – and a platform he describes as wireless DOCSIS. This a
relatively little-known technology that takes HFC plant and extends
its capabilities via wireless mesh.

Mr. Freeman says wireless DOCSIS operates at up to 38Mbps in the
3.5GHz spectrum and its customer premises equipment supports two
voice ports for under $A70 while it boasts “huge cell coverage.” He
added that he will also deploy more conventional wireless mesh
platforms at 2.4GHz that support up to 10Mbps with CPE voice ports
costing less than A$80.

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