WiMAX relying on Government, says wireless pioneer

February 01, 2006

The success of WiMAX wireless broadband will be decided by government determination to provide broadband access for all, according to the co-founder of Qualcomm, Dr Andrew Viterbi.

“I wouldn’t bet on it [WiMAX] being a big player. It comes down to economics," said Viterbi, speaking at the IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium in San Diego.

"If there’s a big push from government towards universal service then it could happen, but I don’t see it. It’s not a technology issue it’s an economic issue."

According to Fawzi Behmann, director of strategic marketing at Freescale Semiconductor’s networking and computing systems group, the next two years will be “crucial” in determining the success of WiMAX.

"It’s long range, it’s got security and it’s high speed – all things that cellular stopped short of," said Behmann. "It comes down to how much service providers [cable, telco and mobile operators] invest to make it happen.

"There’s a lot of elements to make it compelling but adoption will come down to the resolution of business issues."