He-Said/He-Said: WiMAX vs. Landline Broadband: Page 2 of 2

Wireline will always be more cost-effective for fixed services and mobility will always demand a premium.-Frank Bulk

Ok, I sort of agree. Wireline services will be more cost competitive than wireless (assuming a certain population density, as Howard mentions). However I think many users will think to themselves that they might want to have mobility and sacrifice some performance to do it. On Cingular's network today, actual throughput (400Kbps to 780Kbps, roughly based on my testing and Jameson's testing last year) is about 22% to 43% of the theoretical data rate of 1.8Mbps. In Wi-Fi, actual throughput for 11g is about 40% of the theoretical data rate (22Mbps versus 54Mbps theoretical).

Taking those percentages in mind, a 1Gbps WiMAX network would still be dang quick: about 220 to 430Mbps. Unlike 3G, those types of data rates are easily quick enough to serve as someone's primary network connection, even if you have a large number of users per sector. And if users switch from their wired data provider onto a wireless data provider (as has been the case with voice networks today), that would represent competition, right? -Sean Ginevan

That's it for now...stay tuned to see if the discussion continues, or post your own thoughts below.