WI-MAX TECHNOLOGY COMING TO CHICAGO - "Internet EVERYWHERE?"
NEW TECHNOLOGY WOULD BLANKET CHICAGO METRO AREA WITH WIRELESS COVERAGE AT DSL SPEEDS!
If you want to surf the web today, outside your home or office hard-wired LAN connection, or, for an increasingly few of you, your dial-up modem connection, you generally have to find a Wi-Fi Hotspot in a Starbucks, or a Public Library, or in a hotel lobby.
By the end of the year, however, Chicago is expected to be one of the first places in the U.S. to get new wireless technology - WiMax, offered through Sprint Nextel Corporation, in partnership with it's recent acquisition, Clearwire Corporation. This new wireless technology, considerably faster than today's cell-phone internet connection speeds, could revolutionize the way you get your internet. A few examples -
You will be able to listen to Internet Radio on your Car Radio, embeded with a special WiMax Chip.
You can surf the web from a moving vehicle (as a passenger, I would assume).
WiMax technology can be built in to home appliances, or home electronics, so they can automatically communticate with you instantly (for instance, if your sump pump, or refrigerator fails, or if there is a power outage).
Chicago is a starting point in a nationwide WiMax rollout, with a target date of 140 Million U.S. Households covered by 2010. Shaumburg IL based Motorola provides much of the equipment for WiMax, and its proximity to Chicago makes our area a natural starting point for the service.
Sprint executives hope to have WiMax fully online in the Metro Chicago Area - between Rockford IL on the west, and Gary IN on the east - by the end of 2008. Sprint hopes partnering with local cable TV provider Comcast could enhance available home entertainment content available here.
WiMax has been tested on a trial basis in Chicago before, with most of The Chicago Loop currently wired. Funding issues and investor pull-out late last year delayed expansion here, however. The Sprint-Clearwire merger, combined with participation and considerable financial interest from large internet companies such as Google, could assure a successful national rollout this time around.
Wireless Laptop Cards and Desktop Adapters will most likely be the first products able to access the WiMax network, followed by embedded smart phones, digital cameras, and other small electronic devices. Cell phone maker Nokia has a new Internet Tablet/Smart Phone combo device that they plan to market here in Chicago for less than $500 - with a new Cell Phone Service Agreement, I would assume.
Industry analyists expect Sprint to price monthly WiMax Service around $50- $60 per month.
Some skeptics are concerned despite technological advances and high network access speeds, the WiMax coverage area could be subject to the same drop-out coverage prevalent with cell phones today.
However, WiMax backers disagree - "It's all been debugged," Fred Wright, a senior vice president at Motorola who oversees wireless broadband, said of the Chicago network. "Everything all works, so whenever they're ready, we're ready."
There's been a lot of coverage on Chicago WiMax today. Check out the article in today's Chicago Tribune by Wailin Wong. Also, check out the Eric 2.0 Tech Blog, from Tribune Tech Writers Eric Gwinn and Eric Benderoff, for their thoughts and comments.
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