Wimax

WiMAX, meaning Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology that provides wireless transmission of data using a variety of transmission modes, from point-to-multipoint links to portable and fully mobile internet access. The technology provides up to 72 Mbit/s symmetric broadband speed without the need for cables. The technology is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard (also called Broadband Wireless Access). The name "WiMAX" was created by the WiMAX Forum, which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformity and interoperability of the standard. The forum describes WiMAX as "a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL" .

Early WirelessMAN standards, the European standard HiperMAN and Korean standard WiBro have been harmonized as part of WiMAX and are no longer seen as competition but as complementary. All networks now being deployed in South Korea, the home of the WiBro standard, are now WiMAX.

As a short-range mobile Internet technology, such as in cafes and at transportation hubs like airports, the popular Wi-Fi 802.11b/g system is widely deployed, and provides enough coverage for some users to feel subscription to a WiMAX service is unnecessary. >>>>