|
Wednesday, 08 September 2004 |
09 September, 2004: Faced with the competing claims of WiFi and wireless broadband technologies, mobile operators are keen to protect their territory. A lack of standards does not help, but some, such as T-Mobile, are determined to see it work…
When WiFi agitprops claim that theirs is a viral technology which will debilitate conventional cellular operators, the latter are affronted. Rather than just moan at the injustice of it all, they have to take steps to avert this scenario. In Europe, where WiFi has yet to take root (as opposed to in the US, or particularly in California, where it has inserted itself somewhere between 'mom and 'apple pie' as part of 'the American way'), this remains a battleground and broadband wireless access (BWA) is the point at which the fightback begins.
Like WiFi, the situation regarding standards-based technologies for cellular operators in the broadband wireless field remains 'fluid'. Today's announcement confirms that T-Mobile International is employing Flarion's 'Flash OFDM' solution, supporting download speeds of 1 to 3Mbits/s and uploads of 300 to 900kbits/s in its field trial the Dutch capital, Den Haag.
Global reach
This first European trial of the Flarion system follows on the heels of similar pre-commercial operations in Japan (with Vodafone) and the US (with Nextel) and Australia (with Telstra). Adding T-Mobile (with its major interests in the German and UK markets) to this list of reference customers looks impressive in a market where alternative technologies are still struggling for publicity and exposure (for a full report on the alternatives, see our recent feature, "A shift of direction").
"T-Mobile is constantly investigating and screening new mobile broadband technologies," said Dr Hans-Eckhard Krüger, Executive VP, Systems Engineering, T-Mobile International. "As a leader in existing wireless broadband technologies like 3G and WiFi, we are eager to learn more about future technologies."
Like so many convergence scenarios, the one that conjoins broadband and wireless is messy in a technical sense while begging the question of who ultimately drives the newly converged industry. Cellular operators do not appear to be taking this one lying down. It might make fixed-line carriers take note, too.
Jim Chalmers
|
