
Guest post by James Helliwell.
Would you like an Internet connection that’s always on, whether you’re at home or on the go? It’s already here in many cities across the US, thanks to
WiMax. The US Department of Agriculture recently awarded over $504 million in stimulus funds to 40 companies who are planning to broadband to rural areas using WiMax.
So, is WiMax the first
4G technology? That’s a big Yes, according to the WiMax Forum, an industry association set up to promote the technology. But the definition of a “G,” or generation of wireless technology, is up to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United Nations organization. 1G was defined in 1981, and successors have followed each decade since. 4G is set to arrive in 2011, right on schedule.
WiMax is here already. Its official name is
IEEE 802.16, meaning that the standard is defined by the 802.16 Workgroup of the 802 LAN/MAN (Local Area Networks / Metropolitan Area Networks) Standards Committee of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The 802 group of standards includes things like Ethernet (802.3), Audio/Video Bridging (802.1AS and 802.1Qat)), WiFi...