The real wireless revolution is just beginning

Michael Rogers Columnist • Profile • E-mail

Amidst the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, a bit of the future made an auspicious debut. The FCC allowed an isolated temporary shelter in rural Louisiana to use the still-experimental technology WiMAX (basically, Wi-Fi’s big brother) as a powerful, high-speed wireless link to the nearest functioning Internet connection point, fifteen miles away. WiMAX worked flawlessly —  and now discussions are underway to make wireless access a big part of New Orleans’ reconstructed communications infrastructure.

Wireless is everywhere these days — from federal disaster areas to less-troubled climes like Philadelphia and San Francisco, both of which are planning low-cost or free city-wide wireless networks. And in fact, we‘re actually just at the beginning of the true wireless revolution as three technologies — WiMAX, mesh networks and smart radios — converge to create a new generation of seamless networks that extend from your pocket and living room to your automobile and beyond.

The first big game-changer will be WiMAX, which can reach thirty miles or more, blanketing an entire region with an Internet connection as fast as or faster than currently available over telephone or cable lines.

WiMAX has competition, of course. Companies like Verizon, Sprint and Cingular are already rolling out high-speed Internet networks across the country and other telephone companies providers won’t be far behind. The telephone folks have a head start — they’ve been planning 3G (third-generation) technology for years now. But they also have a big disadvantage: in the U.S., the carriers are adopting incompatible systems — Verizon broadband, for example, can’t use the same equipment as Sprint broadband. WiMAX, on the other hand, is like Wi-Fi: a single standard supported by many brands of hardware. 

The first version of WiMAX will be commercially released late this year or early next, and already companies like Intel are preparing big promotional efforts. (That’s notably in contrast to Wi-Fi, which was launched rather quietly by Apple and took a few years to gain traction.) The first flavor of WiMAX will only work for stationary reception, so in countries like the U.S., with plenty of cable and telephone lines, the initial version may not have immediate impact. It will, however, be of enormous importance in bringing broadband to the developing world as well as rural areas in the U.S.

Shortly thereafter, however, a second standard will appear: mobile WiMAX, usable while walking or driving. And that’s when it could get interesting in the U.S. For starters, you’d be able to use free VoIP telephony instead of a traditional cell phone connection anywhere you can pick up a WiMAX signal. A moving automobile could have a constant connection to the Internet, for anything from continually updated navigation information to streaming Internet radio to car-to-car communications (“Red Pontiac, is this the way to the stadium?”)  Just about anything could have a connection to the Internet, from soda vending machines to billboards to your puppy’s collar.

MORE FROM PRACTICAL FUTURIST

Practical Futurist Section Front

Will the Internet transform storytelling? What evolutionary psychology says about social networking At this radio network, the audience is the star Is the Internet dumbing us down? Who will fix my wired (and wireless) home? Will road warriors choose electrons over airplanes? Who will be the TV Guide of the Internet? Why is U.S. always last for new phones? Weighing the risks of biotechnology What will make the laptop obsolete? Practical Futurist Section Front   Add Practical Futurist headlines to your news reader: