June/July 2007

A boost has been given to the concept of mobile WiMAX, the technology that can create wireless data networks extending over several miles, by moves to extend in the range of frequencies on which it can operate in Europe.

Currently, European implementations of mobile WiMAX have been limited to 3.5GHz, the frequency used for the fixed version. However, the ITU, which looks after bandwidth allocation, is supporting the EU and several individual European countries that want mobile WiMAX to be able to use the 2.6 GHz spectrum.

This is currently allocated to future extensions of 3G mobile phone technologies, including HSPA, HSPA+ and LTE, although trials of mobile WiMAX on this frequency have been run in the Netherlands and elsewhere.

WiMAX proponents believe that allowing use of the 2.6GHz band will put WiMAX on more of an equal footing with mobile phone developments, and make VoIP (voice) applications easier to set up.

 

The move could also open the European market to developments under way in the US, where 2.6GHz operation is already established. A typical example just announced in the US is a repeater unit from Dekolink for in-building applications - something expected to be required increasingly as WiMAX is rolled out, since WiMAX signals do not necessarily propagate as well as other wireless signals.

ABI Research has greeted the new moves as 'a good sign for technology neutrality', pointing out that mobile WiMAX products will start to appear this year, and can offer some benefits over UMTS-standard 3G mobile technology.